The atmosphere inside of the bus was tense. Caballo's fingers tapped quickly on the device. He squinted his eyes and covered the bottom of the device with his finger.
"Why are you calling me, what do you think you're doing?!" He grunted. His eyes moved up and down between the tablet and Trout.
A low muttering voice could be heard but not clearly understood out of the device. Trout took a step towards Caballo and tried to take a peek at the screen before quickly going away when Caballo stared at him. Caballo took a deep breath then sighed, after that he handed the tablet to Trout.
"Take it, he has things to tell you" Caballo said. He uses one hand to give the tablet to Trout while the other hand is pressing down on his Yintang point slightly.
Trout took the device and looked down at it. Then he looked back up at Caballo.
"Uhm...sir...how do I use it?" Trout asked, a vein bulged on Caballo's forehead as he closed his eyes for a moment.
Caballo took the device from Trout's hand and tapped on the top left corner, a voice came out from the device but louder this time.
"Hello, Trout right Trout? Oh Trouty, don't lie to me, I know you can hear me..." A playfull voice broke the tension.
"...Sal???" Trout asked, he brought the device closer towards his face.
"Yes it's me, anyway~~~. I kept it hidden until you arrived and I suppose you do now according to the bus's travel log...REAL INTERESTING ROUTE, BUS DRIVER" Sal said. The last phrase was almost a scream, that made Trout twitch back from the device.
Meanwhile, Caballo turned his head towards Trout, his eyes widened and his fingers rubbed on the driver seat hardly.
"Also, Trout. I see you have some 'companions, but I suggest you don't grow too much into them." Sal added.
Trout looked back to the three figures outside of the bus, they're also looking at him.
"So...what am I supposed to do now?" Trout said, his helmet slowly shifting toward a brown shade. Caballo looked up with a raised eyebrow.
"Simple advice, never EVER go alone. Trust me, it won't end well." Sal's voice echoed in the bus.
"Wait, what do you mean don't grow much into the-" Trout said, the call was cut before he could end the sentence. The brown shade on his helmet grew brighter.
Caballo snapped the tablet back from Trout.
"Out. Instantly." Caballo grunted. He pushed Trout toward the door. The moment Trout was out of the bus, the doors creeked close and the bus rumbled away with haste.
Trout looked at the bus then looked back at the three figures, two of them were chatting while the tallest one was looking straight at him.
Trout looked at the bus stop they were standing at. The metal lines holding the plates seemed dusty but not too rusty, barely any colour of paint could be spotted on the bus stop. Only small holes and a dusty scent filling the space.
"Hello?" Trout said. The two chatting people focused back at him while the tallest one stood still. A person took a step towards Trout, they were covered in patches of clothing that covered most of their body. The man handed one of his hands out.
"HELLO PAL! where did you steal all of that clothing from? I quite need to get my hands some proper clothes these days." The figure said, his eyes go up and down multiple times on Trout.
The person who was chatting with him also stepped up and hid behind him.
"H-h-hello, are you really...I mean...are those clothes really stolen?... nevermind, sorry..." the figure muttered, it could barely be heard.
The last figure who stood still the whole time layed his back to the wall behind him.
"Save me the chattering, remember that we have another person now, it's tiresome for me to start all over again because this one showed up late." Said the tall man.
The other two who have spoken nodded, the man who spoke first waved the hand he was holding out a little. Trout took the handshake.
"You must be wondering who we are. I'm Scaros." he said, then pointed at the person behind him. "This one is Liones, she's a bit shy sometimes" He scoffed.
Meanwhile, Liones slightly pinched Scaros's hand.
"Rossy...that's enough...please stop..." She muttered to him. Tinmas took her hand off and pointed at the last person with his thumb.
Before he could introduce the last person, they spoke up first.
"That's enough, what did I say. Also, I prefer my information secured." The man said.
The man was wearing a scarf around his neck
while his body was covered in clothing that looked better than the rest but was still just less than patches. From a overview it looked like he was wearing a worn robe.
"Good day...? I'm Trout." Trout said, his helmet shifting bright white. Scaros covered his face while Liones behind him closed her eyes shut.
The man noticed the light as he glanced at Trout's direction, he pulled out a small book from his sleeve, the pages flipped slowly under his fingers. He looked up and down from the small book and Trout multiple times and tilted his head.
"Is that light a prosthetic? Must be an expensive one. You stole that too?" Scaros asked, he release Trout's hand and rub his palm on his pant for a little.
"Rossy...just stop...sorry..." Liones whispered.
The tall man snapped his fingers and stepped forwards.
"Where is that bus. I thought the last one was the one we were waiting for but it was just here to drop you off." Said the tall man. He sighed out a little breath.
Dust scroll up from the ground. Scaros covered his nose while Liones gave a little cough. The world was waking up for another day.
Somewhere, an engine was rumbling towards a bus stop...