I will try to write two chapters a night starting tomorrow night (weekend FTW!!), until then, I hope you enjoy chapter 4 =D Now, this restaurant is a place where people can bring their pets, and who knows what interesting animals they will meet there? And what's the significance of Rhino's past? I expect a pretty long chapter here with a few important elements for later. Well, let's begin!

IV: The Predator and the Prey

The family entered the restaurant, pushing open the glass doors. Penny held them open until the pets had all made it through. The interior the restaurant was quite a unique sight; the walls were wooden, like a cabin, and in the very center was a gigantic statue in the shape of a dog bone, the carpet, covering the entire floor, was red with a black pawprint pattern, and the wooden tables were shined and waxed. The restaurant was huge, probably covering an area equivalent of a football field. As expected, there were a lot of pets and pet owners in the crowded restaurant. One man walked across the path that the family was walking across in search of the front counter, accompanied with his small, brown dog. "Go play, Reggie!" He yelled as he unhooked his dog's leash. The family continued across the red carpet until they saw a window on the far wall and a small line of people with their pets lined up in front of it. Behind it was a menu. "That must be where we order our food. Penny, can you take the pets to a table? Preferrably a booth." Joe asked

"Yeah." Penny replied. She took the pets on their leashes and Rhino, now back in his ball, followed. She walked to the nearest booth table and tied Bolt, Isabel, and Mittens's leashes to the table stand, then took Rhino in her hands and carried him with her to the front counter where Joe and Emily stood holding hands as they waited in line. Bolt, Isabel, and Mittens were a little confused, yet excited by all the different new animals around. One black, white, and red scruffy looking terrier approached and began to sniff Bolt. "Hi." Bolt stated.

"Are you...?" The terrier began in his high-pitched, somewhat nasally voice. He hesitated, his jaw all but dropping to the floor. He was absolutely star-struck and could not find his voice. "Am I... Bolt?" Bolt guessed, taking a shot in the dark. The scruffy terrier nodded meekly and promptly let out an awkward chuckle. Isabel looked at Bolt and Bolt looked back, a curious look on his face. Mittens was underneath the table, hiding behind the table stand. She did not want to cause a scene with a strange dog, whom she doubted respected cats. Most dogs don't, it's a fact of nature. Bolt then started to talk to the wirey-haired dog, "Hey, don't be so nervous, I ain't gonna bite ya." he encouraged. The terrier calmed down a little and was able to talk again, "You... you're Bolt!!! You're that dog that I always watched on the magic box! And then you saved Penny from the fire and saved Isabel from Paul!" He was panting with excitement by the end of his speech. Isabel and Bolt looked at each other, flabbergasted, "How did you know all this?" Isabel asked slowly. The terrier responded, "I read about you guys in the paper! Well... I saw the pictures and read the small words. You are a living legend... and you are standing before my eyes!!! I must be dreaming!" Bolt chuckled and responded, "Woah, calm down there. What is your name?"

"Rex."

"Rex. Nice to meet you." Rex, still shaking from the excitement, smiled and nodded. "Same to you. And this is...?" He looked at the golden husky. "I'm Isabel. I'm Bolt's... well, his mate I guess you'd say."

"Isabel. Well met!" Rex stated boldly. "Say, Bolt. Hope you don't mind me saying, but you got yourself a gorgeous girl here!" Bolt did not take offense and smiled. "Thanks! The best part is she isn't only beautiful on the outside." He leaned over against her and nuzzled her gently. "Oh, Bolt. That's so sweet." She nuzzled him back and kissed him. "Well, you deserve it, baby." Rex sat down and watched them. To him, they looked adorable together. Deep inside, he wanted to have a girl that cared about him, too. A girl that cares about him as much as these two in front of him apparently cared about each other. Bolt, while nuzzling Isabel, looked at Rex's white left ear in front of him, on it were three large scratch marks, bleeding slightly. Bolt, alarmed, approached him. The nervous little terrier recoiled a little, but Bolt leaned in, and then promptly announced, "Your ear... it's bleeding."

"It is?" Rex asked nervously. He placed a paw to his ear, brought the paw around to the front of his face and looked at it. "How'd that... oh! My friend and I were playing around and I... well... hurt him a little so he scratched me on the ear."

"Scratched?" Bolt asked, now a little puzzled. "Is it a cat?"

"A cat? Ew! No!" This comment sparked a bit of an angry growl from Mittens, but luckily nobody heard it. "My friend is a hamster. His name is..." Rex was interrupted by the approaching Wallace family; Joe, Emily, and Penny, each carrying a tray of food. Joe and Emily placed their two trays, piled with burgers, salads, sodas, condiments, dips, etc. on the table, and Penny placed the third tray, on top of which was Rhino in his ball as well as three bowls of food, on the soft, red booth chair adjacent to the table, and began to place the bowls of food on the ground for the pets. First, she placed Bolt's food on the ground next to her feet, and then Isabel's alongside. The bowls of food were huge and contained juicy chunks of beef and chicken. Bolt and Isabel approached with watering mouths and growling stomachs and dug in greedily. Rex watched as Penny placed a third bowl of food on the ground underneath the table. What did he see under the table? It was alive, for sure. Black with a white underbelly. Was it...? It couldn't be. A cat! Rex let out a low growl. Unfortunately for Bolt, Isabel, and the family, Rex was not trained. Indeed, it was a cat sitting under the table. The terrier growled again, this time louder, getting Bolt's attention. He raised his ears and pulled his head away from his food to see Rex looking fierce. His teeth were bared somewhat and his eyes were fixed on the black cat underneath the table. Mittens looked up to see the large black, red, and white mutt charging toward her. Mittens screamed and scrambled to run away. Penny felt the terrier hit her feet as it flew by underneath the table and immediately dropped her burger and looked down to see a barking, snarling Rex chasing after the defenseless Mittens. "Hey! Stop!" She yelled. Bolt began barking as well and sprinted after Rex, Isabel followed. Rex chased Mittens away from the table and across the crowded room. People jumped back as the terrified Mittens darted by, being chased by the enraged mutt. "Rex! Stop! Don't hurt her!" A female voice called. This voice belonged to her owner, a short, black lady. She looked aged but her sweet face gave her a look as if she was very kind. "Rex! Come to momma!" She panicked and began to run after her crazed dog. Bolt and Isabel tried to chase after the feral terrier, now with Rhino in tow, but the adrenaline running through Rex allowed him to outrun them all. Penny finally got up and ran after them, followed by Joe. Emily watched from the table, embarrassed that her pets were making a scene. Rex finally stomped on Mittens's tail, stopping her running. Mittens panicked and let out a wail of terror. Rex turned her over and put his face right up to hers, so close that Mittens could feel his hot breath on her neck. He looked her straight in the eye, his blue eyes meeting her green ones. Mittens's heart pounded and she began to feel faint as the enraged terrier stood over her. "What're you doing, cat?!" Unexpectedly, Rex's tensed up muscles relaxed as he gazed into her eyes. But just as Rex calmed down, a white flash flew over Mittens and a loud yelp was heard as Bolt pinned Rex to the ground underneath a nearby table. An audience, including Isabel and Rhino, looked on. Bolt then began to talk to Rex. Bolt was absolutely furious, and bared his teeth as he spoke, "What in the hell was that, mutt?! You do not hurt her! You do not go near her!" Rex let out a frustrated growl, and then realized who he was talking to; he had just disappointed his idol, and let out a whimper. "I'm sorry, Bolt! I'm sorry! I... it's just... she's a cat!"

"She's not just a cat. She's my cat! I care about her just like you care about your little hamster friend that abuses you." Bolt let Rex up just as Rex's owner appeared with Penny alongside, "Okay, you two! Break it up!" One of the staff members said as he shooed Rex to his owner. "Rex! What were you thinking? Bad dog!" She leaned over and gave him a light slap on the nose, which made him seemingly apologetic to her. Penny called Bolt over, and he obeyed. "Your dog did nothing wrong. This is not the first time that terrier started something here." The staff member said apologetically to Penny. Mittens, still shaken up, fled to Penny and hid behind her legs, watching the lady tie her dog to the table. Penny leaned over and pat Bolt on the head, "Good boy." She then leaned over to Mittens and examined her to see if he was okay. "You okay, girl?" Mittens's tail was puffed out, but otherwise she was okay. Penny stroked her under her chin as Joe approached. "Wow! What the hell happened, Penny?"

"I... really don't know. That terrier has a problem with cats. I just looked down and saw them all running."

"Well, we'd better get them back to the table. Show's over." The crowd that had gathered around began to disperse and head back to their own individual tasks as Joe and Penny took Bolt, Mittens, and Isabel back to the table. Rhino followed, as usual.

It wasn't ten minutes until Rex had escaped from his owner again and made his way back over to the Wallace's table. "Go away! Shoo!" Penny ordered as he approached, but Rex laid down, head planted between his front paws, and whimpered pathetically. "What is it? What do you want?" Penny asked. Rex slowly approached Mittens, tail wagging. "You want to... apologize or something?" Mittens jumped back when she saw the terrier in front of her and hissed. Penny shook her head and went back to eating her food while carefully observing the activity next to the table. "What are you doing here, mutt?! Get outta here, Rex!" Bolt ordered, standing boldly on all fours. Rex did not answer, and instead continued to progress forward to Mittens. "Mittens? Is that your name?" Rex asked meekly. Bolt stared menacingly at Rex, and Isabel now joined him, her teeth were bared as well. Rhino dropped from the table to the floor, blocking Rex from Mittens. "Road's closed, punk!" Rex sighed, frustrated. "Can't I just freaking apologize?"
"You scared the piss outta her! I mean, jeez, you scared her so bad that she may have been spayed from a shock like that!" Bolt sneered. Rex cowered a little, the white American Shepherd standing above him that had, fifteen minutes ago, inspired him, now terrified him. "Please, Bolt. I don't want anymore trouble." He shook and covered his head with his paws, ready for Bolt to attack. Bolt sighed, "I'm not gonna hurt you, Rex. But I don't think Mittens is gonna accept your apology with a scare like that." Isabel then objected, "Actually, Bolt... we should let Mittens decide for herself. Rhino?" Rhino moved his ball out of the way, removing the blockade of Mittens to Rex. Bolt looked on cautiously. "Hey, Mittens." Rex started softly. Mittens stepped back as Rex slowly approached her, leaning down on his front paws with his backside in the air slightly, gesturing that he meant no harm. "What the hell were you thinking, you crazy bastard?!" Mittens hissed. "Hey, hey... I'm sorry. You see, I just had a bad experience with a cat in the shelter. The cat scratched me up pretty bad and I was all but defenseless at the time. I won't go into detail."

"So you thought it was a good idea to scare the daylights out of a cat like me? What was I supposed to do while you were chasing after me?! Was I supposed to roll over and faint for you so you could rip me limb from limb?!" She retorted. "No. No, you weren't. I just... thought I'd say I'm sorry. That was completely unnecessary."

"You bet it was!"

"But... it's strange... when I was right in your face, I... relaxed. It's your eyes... they aren't like the eyes of other cats..." Mittens's expression vanished from her face, her tensed muscles relaxed and her tail began to shrink back to normal size. "...Go on." She said dryly. "They are the eyes of... spunk. You have more guts than most cats, don't you?" Mittens felt a little complimented. "Do you think I do?"

"Yeah. It was strange... when I had you pinned to the ground, I wanted deep in my heart to just... talk with you. I've never talked to my prey before."

"Well, thank you. I'll give you that. And I accept your apology." Mittens and Rex locked in a brief stare until a loud, deep voice called out, "Rex! Mom's gonna go nuts if she finds out your over here causing the little girl more trouble!" Rhino, for some reason, stood at attention to this voice, and turned around.