Vee: Pleeeease don't hate me I've been busy beyond all reasonable belief. AP classes are rapidly making me realize college is going to suck ass. Anyways, here's chapter 1 of Pawprints! Cat's story will be first, and the Ari's, I promise!
Ari: Why the hell am I second?
Cat: Yay chapter 1 of my story!
Ari: Screw you Vee.
Cat: Vee does not and does not claim to have created any characters, places, or situations mention in here that were borrowed from Toriko. Only the storyline presented here and her own characters (Ari, Cat, etc.) are hers. Thank you for reading!
All: HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
"Hey, make sure you feed Specimen 12. Lissa, can you get the phones? And Quin, where's my clipboard?" Cat shouted over the noise of the busy room.
"Beside your desk," Quin replied, "And Toriko and his friends are set to arrive in an hour. Is everything ready?"
"Yeah, I made all the food, and Daruis sent the ship's captain the final set of instructions over the radio a few minutes ago," Cat said, grabbing her clipboard and flipping through it. She glanced up as an intern hurried towards her, waving a few sheets of paper.
"Doctor Cat! The Rainbow Tiger had her cubs about ten minutes ago. Six, all healthy, two males and four females. They're in room B-12. Also, the Flying Lizards were released on time into jungle region A-9," the intern said hurriedly.
"Ahh," she said, making a few marks on her papers, "And those papers in your hand, what're they about?"
"These're the report on those DNA samples we got from IGO's Guormet World team. Darius said you'd want to look at them," the intern replied.
"Okay, thank you," Cat said. Turning to Quin, she asked, "You think you and Darius can handle things here? I've got to finish up the dinner preparations and change. Plus, I really should check up on Viper."
"Of course. It's not as busy as its been since we had to lay off most of our help anyways. Darius will be assisting me while you're busy with your brother and other guests, right?"
"Yeah. Thanks for doing that, by the way. I'm glad I can rely on you guys," Cat said, handing her clipboard to Quin.
"It's our job, doctor," Quin replied, walking away.
Cat strode out of the labs, checking on things as she went. Stepping outside, she paused for a second to enjoy the sunlight on her skin. It promised to be a beautiful day, even though it was only 10 o'clock. The waves created a whoosh whoosh sound as they crashed against white sand, and the sea scented wind rustled the palm leaves above her head. Ah, she was so lucky to get to work on a tropical island.
Walking across the sand, she saw the immense length of the world's only known Viper Dragon lounging in the sun. His black scales reflected the sun, and the huge eyelids were shut. As she came closer, he lazily opened one eye and yawned.
"Hey big guy. You enjoying the sun?" she asked, patting his neck.
"Yes," his voice whispered through her mind, "The warmth makes me want to waste the day with sleeping, however."
He rose to his feet, stretching out all of his impressive eighty foot length. He was shaped somewhat like a snake with four legs and huge wings, with an impressive hundred foot wingspan. Black all over, his head was surprisingly angular, with sharp horns curving out behind his head. A row of spikes ran down his back, with an elongated diamond shaped one at the very tip. Viper dragons are surprisingly intelligent creatures, perhaps even more so than a human, with the ability to communicate mind to mind with any animal. Unfortunately, at the age of thirty, he was the last of a dying race, as no mate had been found for him.
"In fact, I may go take a look at your brother and his companions. From your memories, they seem to be fascinating people... Especially that red haired one, what was his name... Zebura?" Viper's voice ran through her mind, and she imagined that if fire had a voice, it would be like his.
"Geez, could you quit bringing him up! Just because his scent caught my attention, you haven't shut up about him since I returned," she said grumpily.
With a sound somehow reminiscent of laughter in his chest, Viper replied, "That is because you compared it to a male animal's. You reveled it. Musky, did you not say? Exquisitely male?"
Turning red, Cat said, "Oh shut up you."
Laughing all the harder, Viper launched himself into the air gracefully, flying higher and higher, then abruptly turning towards the ocean and flying towards the incoming boat. Farther off, he dove into the ocean, disappearing with a splash.
"Crazy dragon," Cat murmured. It was, however, true that Zebura's scent had been strangely captivating. But as a human, she would ignore that. She'd heard a lot about the Four Heavenly King's Zebura, and wanted no part of him. A delinquent type, rough and destructive, well known for wiping out species, quick to anger and to take offense. Of course, all four Heavenly Lings had reputations for being strong.
Coco is a poison expert, supposedly even capable of turning his body to poison. Despite this, he has a reputation as the kindest and calmest of the four, and, although friendly, he seems to prefer to be alone. Also, the girls love him.
Sani is obsessed with himself, quite the narcissist. He uses his hair as a weapon, and is in constant pursuit of health foods. He's friendly enough, but has a habit of calling things either beautiful or unbeautiful. Also has a little sister, Rin.
Toriko uses himself as a weapon, plus knife and fork, like her father. He's super friendly with just about anyone, and has a reputation for eating anything he can get his hands on. He hates anyone who wastes food, and has two sisters, Ari and Cat.
These were the people coming to Guormet Island. The Heavenly Kings, plus one guest each.
Cat was actually pretty worried about this. If they spoke to any reporters about this island, they might be in for trouble. So many rare animals, rumored to have fantastical flavors or properties called this island home, that it would be a magnet for all of the worst kinds of Bishokuya.
She walked along the beach, soaking in the sun, before reaching her main home. It was modern, with spacious rooms and an open, airy feel. Rare and beautiful plants grew around the outside, a color filled bouquet, and more grew inside. It was also huge and very lavishly decorated, as she often entertained important people here. Entering, she walked through the elegant greeting hall, up the huge, red carpeted stairs, and took a right to the dining room. Up the left side of the stairway, her guest's rooms were prepared. She walked through the spacious room into one of her favorite rooms in the house. The kitchen was full of all the smells of dinner. She'd done her best, but was entirely sure it was nowhere near as fancy as her chefs would have prepared. These chefs, however, had been fired once money got tight. They were unnecessary luxuries. Nowadays, she prepared the food herself.
Luckily she was at least a decent chef. She checked all of the dishes before being satisfied everything would survive another few minutes without supervision. She hurried back to her room, which was located at the very back of the house, accessible either through a secret door in the kitchen or at the end of the hallway off of the left stairway.
It was massive, with a huge, four poster bed pushed up against the east wall, a deep brown wood covering the floor, and deep blue walls. The thing she enjoyed most about the room, however, was that the wall facing the door was entirely glass, through which she could see the ocean.
Stretching, she grabbed her clothes and changed. A shimmering gold cloth covered her chest, leaving her stomach uncovered, and a dark blue, semi-sheer skirt flowed down to midway down her calves, with a slit up one side. Gold jewelry clicked together musically all over her body. Nervously, she tugged on her hoop earrings. Too much? Too little? She wasn't sure if she should try to impress them with a formal dress, or try to understate her position here. And should she try to impress.. What on earth was she thinking? She only wanted to impress her brother, not that red-haired delinquent!
Turning, she swept out of her room, and checked the food again, quite deliberately not thinking about him. Glancing up, she saw that her brother was due in a few minutes, so she quickly got the food on the table. When she next looked up, she saw that her brother was already supposed to have arrived.
"Shit!" she exclaimed, running out the door.
"She's late, but then again, so are they," Quin remarked.
"Ah, give her a break. She's got a lot on her plate, what with funding and all," Darius said.
"We're all having trouble. I just hope these people get out of here before she, or they do anything stupid," Quin sighed, "I mean, Bishokuya, here? Especially these four! Next thing you know, she'll be inviting reporters here!"
"Quin, it's fine. You need to loosen up," Darius replied, leaning on a palm tree.
"And you need to be more serious," she snapped.
"And together we balance each other out," he shot back, silencing her.
The boat came slowly into view, and Cat was still nowhere to be seen. When it was only a few minutes from docking, Darius pointed off into the distance and said, "See, what'd I tell you."
Every few seconds, a plume of sand flew into the air. Within ten seconds, Cat stood in front of them, skirt and hair flying behind her.
"I see they're already here," she commented.
"You're late, doctor," Quin replied crisply.
"Or, one could say you're just on time," Darius said, yawning.
As the boat came in to dock, Cat spotted a long, dark shape trailing behind it. She mentally reminded herself to introduce them to Viper as soon as possible.
Coco and Sani were the first ones to step down onto the dock, followed by two women, and in the background Toriko and Sani were facing off, with Konatsu attempting to play mediator.
"You cocky bastard, I'm going to be the one who captures the rarest ingredient!" Zebura snarled. Cat's heart did a weird twist as she heard his voice, and for the first time in a long time, she felt the need to cover her mostly exposed body. No! No man could have this power over her!
"Ehh?! You're joking, me and Komatsu are going to get it!" Toriko shouted.
"H-Hey, could you guys just calm down..." Komatsu said weakly.
Zebura threw the first punch, but Toriko was quick to retaliate. Their fist fight was the backdrop to Cat 'a greetings to Coco and Sani.
"Hello, Heavenly Kings Coco and Sani. And who are these two?" Cat inquired.
"Hi! I'm Sani's sister, Rin, and this's Tina!" Rin exclaimed.
"Hello, I'm Tina! I'm a reporter for Guormet News! It's so nice of you to invite us all!" Tina exclaimed.
Cat, Darius, and Quin all froze at her introduction. Cat quickly put on a smile and replied, "It's great to meet you guys. I am Toriko's sister, Doctor Cathrine, also known as Cat. And I welcome you all to Gourmet Reserve."
Thanks for reading!
Next chapter will be out in a week!