The Blind Bandit (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 2: Kings and a chef

When Sarafina purchased her ticket and entered the train, she had hope to have some peace and quiet until she reached her destination. Heh, such a foolish thought. Instead, she was met with numerous gourmet hunters taunting each other and attempting to intimidate the competition. Well, at least in this part of the train. Though to be honest, she thought something like this would appear. She could smell the alcoholic beverages and heard their loud chattering before she even stepped foot inside the train. Shaking her head in amusement, Sarafina smiled and walked off to find herself a seat. She had to go through several cars but eventually found a seat near a window. Sarafina opened it to gain some fresh air, and begin to think about the best way on how to capture the rare beast known as the Puffer Whale. Sarafina knew that it was going to be a bit tricky. Since each Puffer Whale has a poisonous sack whose position in the body varies between them. If she's not careful, then it'll releases its poison, rendering to be inedible.

Saraphina was brought out of her thoughts by the two people sitting behind her. They both sounded male and were both as equally excited as she was. Not only that, but she could hear one of them eating a hefty amount of food and smell seven or eight types of different alcohol in the mix. "You plan on leaving any booze for the other passengers, Toriko-san?" One man asked.

Toriko? Hm, where had she heard that name before?

"Don't judge, I'm excited. Just think, the two of us will be hunting the legendary Puffer Whale." The second one, Toriko, laughed, his voice was filled with glee. "Are you amped up for this, bro?!"

"Yeah, I'm cranked up to eleven!" The other said. Sarafina struggled to hold in her own laughter. Good heavens, being excited might've been an understatement for them. They probably are counting down the seconds before getting to the caverns and practically jumping up and down their seats. Wow, how long has it been since she heard a couple of hunters talk about hunting just for the sake of having fun and experience the adventure? "They say Puffer Whales are the most unique of all deep sea mammals. But they only show up somewhere we can reach them once a decade. Now's that time."

"Puffer Whale taste like a delicate blowfish rolled in fatty tuna and then dipped in a whale stew, it is divine. I can't wait."

Hearing them speak with such passion, Sarafina couldn't help herself but join in their conversation. With a soft giggle, she caught the men's attention as she said, "Oh, I'm sorry. But I couldn't help but overhear you two. I can relate on how you must be feeling about this hunt. However, one must not forget about the crucial part of the Puffer Whale." Sarafina turned around so that she would be facing them. "That's the only problem, they can be extremely poisonous if handled incorrectly. And the wrong move...well," She told them.

"Oh, she's got point there Komatsu." Toriko said, reaching for a burger.

"Yeah, I know. It's really important I come with on this one, cause it's also the first time in a decade anyone's had a chance to see how it's prepared. The poison sack's so hard to remove, it's classified 'Ingredient Needed Special Prep'. INSP, Toriko-san. INSP." Komatsu said, getting bubbly over the idea of actually preparing the Puffer Whale into a fine dish. And hopefully in a way that won't kill you.

"That's true. Only ten men in the world can prepare it in a way that won't kill you. And the one we're meeting up with isn't even a chef." Toriko told his friend. Though, that made him a little nervous since he didn't want to mess this up. It was a perfect opportunity and he wasn't going to take any risk with it. Sarafina was intrigued when this Komatsu guy talked about how he planned on cooking the deep sea mammal. That must mean he's a chef. "A Gourmet Hunter and a chef working together, now that's what I call a perfect duo." She said. "Would you mind if I sit with you?"