It has been a few hours since the events back then at the greenhouse.The interior of Vaquero smelled like ozone and old upholstery. For a while, the only sound was the hum of tires against the geometric grass and the rhythmic flickering of Tabias's screen. The silence was heavy—filled with the questions no one wanted to ask.Meanwhile the girl at the middle was still unconscious as her body shook in the car.Then Vaquero broke the awkward silence that consumes this moment
Vaquero: Hey y'all, I got somethin' I need to tell ya mates..
His voice seems to have a tint of guilt and worries as he spoke outloud
Peter, understandably, was confused but curious but what does he mean
Peter:Huh? What do you mean by that?
Vaquero:Y'know that blow-up happened over at the green house back then, Luv?
Peter:(More perplexed) Yeeah?
Vaquero:That there... that was my doin, luv..
Peter:Huh?
Tabias and Rosalind at the back were almost as perplexed by Vaquero saying and looked at each other and whispered to each other
Rosalind:Whatever could he mean by that? Is he suggesting—dare I say, implying—that he is the source of this entire predicament?
Tabias:(Shrug his shoulder) Ehh I don't know, maybe he'll explain it further
Vaquero:To tell it true,Luv, I was just wanderin' 'round the green field while all two were off explorin' that greenhouse. I got to lookin' at one of them hourglasses—just curious-like—and well... these tentacles just came out of nowhere and dragged the thing straight into the dirt. And right then... boom... The whole place just went up.I wrecken sorry
Peter:...HEH?
Rosalind, Vaquero and Tabias were slightly startled by Peter blunt and surprise tone but he then continued
Peter:The ffff-...You mean?! So your saying that you literally explore, touch an hourglass then a suspicious tentacle dragged the hourglass? Huh..That explains why it appears
Tabias:Mr.Vaquero, why didn't you tell us this?
Vaquero:Well, I was just scared y'all might, y'know... take a dislike to me over it, mates..
Peter:Wha-..*sigh*..It's, okay.I don't have the energy to argue with you..
Vaquero:So y'all ain't sore at me then?"
Rosalind:But of course we don't, my dears! We have long since moved past that entire... Misfortune, have we not, you two?
Tabias looked at Rosalind with a hint of understanding and Peter covered his eyes before taking it off
Tabias and Peter:Yes..
Vaquero sighs in relief but in his mind, he is still worried despite being such a minor conflict
.....
After a few hours past, Peter reminisces how that little conflict reminded of how his parents would just argue over small things the easily resolved
Vaquero:I..Also wrecken to tell you something, mate..
Peter:Huh? What is it?
Vaquero:W-well..Ya know the tentacle things earlier from the green house
Peter:*Sigh" lemme guess, there's a secret you were also hiding?
Vaquero makes a "hmmph" noise as if he was, somehow, surprised that Peter predicted it
Tabias:Peter, give Vaquero space!
Peter:*Sigh* Fine, what do you wanna tell us?
Vaquero:While I was sittin' out yonder by the green house, waitin' on y'all, I done had some kinda red text pop up outta nowhere on my screen, luv
Peter looks interested yet slightly curious and serious about what Vaquero is saying
Peter:Aaand?..And what?
Vaquero:It said somethin' like, "It can't be followed outta thet there hole," or somethin' along them lines.
Rosalind:So... the message was intended as a grim herald, was it not? A warning of that wretched fiend—the one that masqueraded as a forest spirit, only to pursue us from the darkness of the abyss.
Tabias:But that also means it must be coming from somewhere or.. Someone..
Peter:Godadamm it on, I'm so tireeed..Can we just..Talk about this later?
Tabias:But Peter, we gotta think about the possibility of the message! It must be coming from someone!
Peter:*Sigh*, if we're gonna talk about it, I think it's actually someone we haven't met or.. Something else, I don't know
Tabias:Wha-
Rosalind:I pray thee, dear Tabias—might we allow Peter a moment of respite after such a harrowing ordeal? After all, it is only right that we clear our minds of such dreadful tribulations
Tabias:*Sigh*, I guess you're right..
After a few minutes passed, the atmosphere was quite silent and awkward after the whole conversation
Peter:Well..This is awkward how about we, uuh, tell about ourselves
Tabias:I-i have
Peter:Go ahead
Tabias:I just realized something, why haven't we been hungry or thirsty
Peter:What?
Tabias:Well.. Wait, Vaquero do you get hungry?
Vaquero:Not in any way you'd call 'normal,' I reckon. See, while me and the rest of my kin still gotta hanker after a bit of methane now and again to keep the fires burnin', we can get along just fine on nothin' but pure sunlight for a few centuries, luv. We're built to last, plain and simple
Tabias:Huh..Neat..A-anyway, sure, I never felt hungry even tho we eat... Rosalind to you?
Rosalind:I'm afraid that is not quite the case, my dear
Tabias:Peter?
Peter:(Shook) Nope, me too
Tabias:If that's the case, then..
Tabias realization hit him like a train.He knew something was off, why they're never hungry? Never thirsty—He suddenly felt something.He looked down as his tv screen lowered.He looked at the unconscious girl's hands and saw a little twitch at her hand
Tabias, Peter, Rosalind and Vaquero:!
Peter moved a little bit closer while dragging his legs away on Vaquero's car floor in a moment of curiosity and caution
Peter:Shot, she's waking up-
The girl's eyes sluggishly opened.It reaveled fiery, amber colored eyes that closely resmable Jasper and despite her recently working up, her eyes were already filled with survival and determination
???:Hmm!!
The girl violently took off the seatbelt and ferociously ran in a blitzing speed to the left corner of Vaquero's car in the front seat and his Robatic hand retracted and immediately turn into a razor-sharp metallic knive and start pointing at everyone like her life was at endanger
???:WHO the ZARK are you lot?! Where am I?! What's this gaff?! You've gone and nicked me, 'ave you?!
Peter:JESUS CHRIST calm down!
???:"CaLm'" my arse!
Peter mins:Shit that was a bad move
Tabias:M-miss we are NOT kidnappers!
???:What are you then, eh? Some kind of muppet?
Tabias:W-well..
Rosalind:Pray, do not be alarmed—we are but weary wayfarers, cast into this strange realm much like yourself. We chanced upon you only as you descended from the heavens, alighting quite suddenly upon our window-glass!
???:Huh?
Vaquero LED green eyes immediately opened at the windshield and directly looked at the girl with a frantic yet frustrated look
Vaquero:Hey now! Cut that out! Y'all are fixin' to start a slaughter right inside of me, and I surely don't reckon I'm built for that kind of mess!
???:lWHAY THE-
The girl loss her focus and immediately lose her grip causes her to fall at the front seat.As she get up, she saw through the window that filled her with awe and confusion
She saw tall, geometric green hills, the blue sky and a light without a sun and each hills moving so fastly due to Vaquero's car
???:W-what? Huh? Where am I, for real? What is this poxy place?
Her previous fiery voice has turned into a voice of loss in disbelief and confusion as she couldn't believe what she was seeing
Peter look at her with such tired face and rub his face with his hand in exhaustion
???:You! Plod or whatever—stop gaffin' and tell me where I'm at, 'fore I lose it
Peter was slightly taken off back and startled by her sudden askness but calmly explained the whole situation
Peter:Look, young lady I-..*Sigh* I don't know
???:Huh?
Peter:I'm not kidding, we really don't know but all we know is that we were suddenly transported here
The girl, realizing her situation, slowly lowers her knife but still does not willingly return
Vaquero:Woah there, any chance ya could turn that knife back into a hand? I swan, we ain't fixin' to hurt ya or do much of anythin' at all, luv... y'hear?
The girl slowly looks at Vaquero's LED eyes with anxiety and caution before slowly retracting her knife hand into a hand again
???:*Sigh*..Fine then..I ain't catchin' no bad vibes off yet..But don't you get cute! Try any funny business and I'll clock you before you can blink
Peter:Yeah, yeah..
The girl slowly retracts her knife hand into her normal (in her sense) robotic of a hand
The girl then finally relaxed on the seat by Vaquero
???:*Sigh* Proper rubbish, this seat. Feels like sittin' on a sack o' rusted nails
Vaquero:
?:Also, The hell is that s'posed to be?
Tabias:Oh that's Vaquero! He's a Sentibot, a sentient mecha made of microorganisms, apparently they're super cool!
???:Riiighhtt...Suuureee..
Rosalind and Tabias do not notice this but Peter and Vaquero can sense that sharp taste of sarcasm at her tone
Vaquero mind:Jeez what a sarcastic fellow
???:You got a name, or should I just call you something?
Peter: Name's Peter
Vaquero:The name's Vaquero, luv
Peter stretch his left arm and pointed at the two people at the back of the seal
Peter:That's Rosalind and Tabias
???:Name...Ivy..I-Ivy..R-r-repunzel..
She immediately turned around in shame and embarrassment, her face reddened like a strawberry from how ridiculous of her last name or she think
Tabias:.....Pff-
Rosalind: Tabias, I must say, such conduct is very unbecoming!
Tabias:S-sorry ma'am..
Rosalind:Pray, do not distress yourself, darling. We harbor not a glimmer of judgment regarding your family name
Ivy:R-really? Huh..
Ivy:So, where'd you lot crawl out from 'fore you ended up in this bin?
Peter:I came from Earth in Vegas
Tabias: from Sodom City
Rosalind:I'm from The Kingdom of Dukedom, Dear
Vaquero:Well now, I hail from a far-off place by the name of Apparatus
Ivy:Okay then..I guess it's my turn..I'm from Hierapolis. Proper nasty place, if you're askin'. The air's so thick wit' rot you'd choke dead without a mask, and the cold? Stings worse than a hive o' bees. Just smoke, steel, and a bunch o' low-life scumbags lookin' to knick your boots—Oops I got a little personal
Rosalind:Think nothing of it! You are quite welcome to hold that particular detail close to your heart, should you so desire
Ivy:Thank goodness-
Vaquero:Hey there, fellers... keep a weather eye out. I reckon I'm seein' somethin' way off yonder in the distance
Peter:What is it?
Vaquero:A..Is that there a... a castle? No... hold your horses... I'll be dogged if it ain't a greenhouse, plain as day
Peter:....Ah shi-