We awoke in a tangle of limbs in the wee hours of the morning. I stood and stretched, feeling several joints shift in protest. Elizabet smiled tiredly at me.

“I’ll miss you, Ivor. Since we met, I’ve not been away from you for more than a few hours. Two weeks? This might be difficult,” she said softly.

“I’ll miss you too, sweetheart. I’m pretty sure Talah-ma’at and the boys will keep you busy and too occupied to think overmuch about me,” I said, leaning over the bed to kiss her gently.

She stroked my bearded face gently with her nails, causing a shiver to ripple through me. “I don’t know about that,” she whispered.

I smiled and straightened, pulling on my clothes and shouldering my Pack. “I need to go, love. They’re probably waiting for me in the Great Hall. I hope I can help fill the larder with something good,” I said.

“I’ll see you in a couple of weeks, then. Be safe out there,” Elizabet said as she sat up.

“Always,” I said softly, then headed out the door towards the Hall.

I’d always enjoyed hunting. The thought of pitting yourself against the natural world had always had a draw to me. Tracking a deer through the woods, or ambushing it from a tree stand or a blind. I’d yet to test myself against anything that could potentially do me serious harm, however. Back on Earth, I’d never had the opportunity, for one thing. For another, I could never afford the special hunting tag or the trip it would require to make that attempt. Bear and boar were always out of my price range, skill level and location. Deer, turkey, pheasant and the occasional coyote were common enough for me to see and hunt. Even squirrels had made it into my stewpot on occasion.

In contrast, I had no idea what kinds of creatures I’d find here on Chaia. I knew of the Dire Bear, and the large elk I had taken, but beyond that, I had no idea what was out there. I also would probably not be able to use my Dome of Concealment to hunt. For the evening camping, maybe, but I doubted the Haarthuu would find that very amenable.

I made my way to the Great Hall, and found an empty table near the kitchen door, where I heard a clatter of activity. Gon-rash seemed to be as busy as he could be. I figured it would be a good use of my time to help him.

I shrugged my Pack off and Locked it, setting it beside the kitchen door. I walked in, smelling the heady aroma of simmering sausages and frying eggs. This was going to be good.

“How can I help, Gon-rash?” I asked, smiling at the smaller man.

Gon-rash started, obviously lost in his own little world. “Goodness! Ivor, don’t sneak up on me like that! I almost tossed a knife at you,” he said, placing a hand to his heaving chest. He took a moment to compose himself, then returned to stirring something on the stove. “If you want to assist, make yourself useful by cutting those tubers there” -he pointed with a knife to a pile of the delicious tubers sitting on the counter- “into small cubes. I’m making your hash recipe next, and that’s the last thing I need,” he said.

“Heard,” I said, grabbing a knife.

I set to work dicing the starchy food, and setting them into a bowl for rinsing. While I was at it, I took the liberty of putting together a second, larger portion of the hash to stuff into my Pack, just in case.

“There’s those done. Would you like for me to put together the travel rations, or have those been done already?” I asked, wiping my hands off.

“No, that’s been done. You can go ahead and set them out on the tables outside, though. They’re in a crate in the pantry, just inside the door. You’ll see it,” he said.

“Got it. I’ll take that out, and get out of your way,” I said, walking to the pantry.

Gon-rash nodded absently, lost in his world of food. I opened the door, seeing the crate on the floor. It was rather large and full of bundles. I supposed it would need to be for a hunting party of this size. Five of us for fourteen days? And one of us eats more than any two other Haarthuu? I was determined to not put a strain on the resources of Haruma.

I squatted and picked the crate up, backing out of the doorway. It was heavy, but not unmanageable. Walking out of the kitchens, I saw Liss-ran and three other Haarthuu that I’d not met before, each bundled up in fur coats and skins.

“Oh! Hi, everyone!” I said jovially. “Let me set this thing down here, and we can get the contents stowed away, okay?” I commented, setting the crate down on the floor.

“Uh. Hi there, Ivor. Just, uh… just how strong are you?” Liss-ran asked.

I scratched my head. “I dunno. Strong enough, I guess? I never really bothered to measure my strength, as it has always just been there when I needed it,” I said with a shrug, turning around to gather my Pack.

The eyes on the Pack followed my hands, which was a little unnerving. I still didn’t know if the damn thing was sentient or not. I whispered the Unlock spell, and opened the top as wide as it would go.

Which was, in all honesty, probably large enough to admit me without brushing the sides. I may have been a little overzealous in making it as large as I did. Too late now. I started tossing in ration bundles, motioning for the others to help. To say that I had some thoroughly confused Haarthuu would be an understatement.

However, after a few moments, all the rations were stowed, and I picked up the crate to take it back inside the pantry. Gon-rash came out, bearing a tray of the breakfast hash. before I got to the door, and I held it open for him.

“Thank you, Ivor,” he said as he set the meal down. “Wait. Where are the rations? I only ask as there is no way even you could lift that crate with one hand if it were full,” he said.

With my free hand, I pointed at my Pack. “They’re all in there. I’ll be right back,” I said, disappearing into the kitchens.

I walked into the pantry, setting down the crate, hoping we could fill it with many pounds of fresh meat. As I walked out, I saw another helping of the hash cooking away on the stove. I went over and tended to it, making sure nothing burned. The gravy was just about ready, so I finished that, and poured it all into a large crock that was sitting nearby, covered it, and headed back out of the kitchen.

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I set the crock down on the table, and looked at the others. “Where did Gon-rash go? I wanted to thank him,” I said, looking around for the chef.

Liss-ran just pointed at my Pack and dug into the hash.

“Wait. He’s inside my Pack?! Oh fuck,” I said, rushing to the Pack.

“What? I don’t understand what’s wrong. He just went in a few minutes ago,” she said, obviously confused.

“Shit fuck, fuckfuckfuckfuck….” I muttered, thrusting my arm into the Pack, keeping the chef firmly in my mind.

I waved my arm around inside, trying to find him, as the rest of the group watched me curiously. After a few moments, I felt a three-fingered, clawed hand grasp mine, and I firmly heaved the man out.

Gon-rash emerged, wide-eyed and began sucking in deep breaths of sweet air.

“By The Mother, that was terrifying!” he exclaimed, panting. He wrapped his arms around mine and clung for life.

“Gon-rash?” I asked gently, softly rubbing his shoulder. “What happened? What did you see? Why did you do that?” I asked.

Gon-rash stared off into the distance, saying, “I was just trying to find out how you got all those rations inside that Pack of yours. I opened it and leaned in because it was dark, and I slipped and fell. And fell. And fell. When I stopped falling, I was standing in…a…a room, I think. It was all white and foggy in there. The whole area had things everywhere, but sort of stacked into neat piles. I could see some skins, and the crock of hash you made that one day, as well as all the rations. Some leather and tools. And… and fingers. Why? Why do you have Human fingers in your pack? There was a lot of stuff in there. Including your bow.

“I walked around, looking at everything when I started getting lightheaded and dizzy. Like I couldn’t breathe. It was then that I saw your hand waving around right above me. I tried reaching out, but I just had no energy. When you grabbed me and hauled me out, I was about to pass out.”

“What was that?” he asked.

I hugged the small man close. “Gon-rash, you almost died in there. You almost suffocated. You were inside my Pack. Inside a specially crafted area that was created just to hold things. You’re very lucky, my friend. I never expected anyone to crawl inside. If not for the second crock of hash that was cooking, I might have concluded that you simply left,” I said, thankful that I had started the second one.

“I don’t want to experience that again. Ever,” he said solemnly.

“Me either. It is, however, good to know that the rules I apparently subconsciously made for the Bag and the Pack work. There’s only about ten minutes of air inside,” I said. Looking around to the others, I stated, “Please don’t ever try to climb into my Pack. I don’t want to lose anyone.”

Gon-rash disengaged himself from me, and I held him at arm’s length. “You okay, bud?” I asked.

He nodded. “I will be. I think I’ll spend the rest of the day in my room, resting and doing as much nothing as I can,” he said shakily.

“If you think that’ll work for you. The kitchen is already fairly clean. All that would be left is the plate of hash that’s out here. I’m taking that crock with me. Perhaps you should ask Mik-rin to handle things for a while?” I said gently.

He nodded. “Yes. That would be best. Thank you, Ivor. I think I’ll go now. You lot be safe, and come home with as much as you can fit into that Pack of yours, okay?” he said, walking off to his tasks.

I nodded, and put the crock into my Pack. Sitting down beside Liss-ran, I dug into the hash, starving from the night’s activities.

The other four Haarthuu simply sat there and watched me. When I noticed, I looked up.

“What? What’d I do?” I asked, eyes wide.

“Ivor, Gon-rash nearly died inside your Pack. And you’re going to just sit here and eat?” Liss-ran asked.

“Well, yeah. He’s okay, just shaken up. Tomorrow or the next day, he’ll be right as rain. Might be leery of my Pack, however. It’s not like it’s trying to eat anyone. He just fell in, and that’s that. I assure you, it’s perfectly safe. Just don’t fall in,” I said. “He did confirm some things for me, however. I now know that the rules I know from my home world for that particular item are the same here. I now know the risks associated with it, and can do what needs to be done with it,” I said with a shrug.

The other four looked at each other, then at me. I held up a hand to forestall any comments. “I know. I’m more than a little dangerous. However, understand what happened. An accident happened. One that was almost devastating. It was avoided, and no, I’m not dismissive of it. I know Gon-rash is a smart man. He was just overwhelmed with what just happened. I left it open, so it is partly my fault. I accept that. Now that the four of you have seen what can happen, you’re not going to fall in, are you?” I asked, seeing four headshakes. “Okay, then. I would consider this closed. If, when we return, Gon-rash is still having issues, I will help him as best as I can. I doubt he will, though,” I said, finishing my breakfast.

“Well. At any rate, I don’t know the three of you. If we’re going to be hunting together for the next couple weeks, I think it prudent that I at least know your names. I’m Ivor, as you probably already know,” I said.

Across from me, in a surprisingly deep voice, the young hunter said, “I am Kilik-ma. Third of my father’s brood. I am honored to hunt with you, Ivor.”

“I’m glad to meet you, Kilik-ma. I hope we get along,” I said with a nod.

“And I am Tren-sun, the eighth of my father’s brood. If half of the tales I’ve heard about you are true, this will be an amazing time,” said the obviously young man beside Kilik-ma.

“Excellent! I hope you can enlighten me on what you’ve been told, Tren-sun. I’d like to know what rumors are going around about me,” I said with a wink.

The third member sighed and rolled their eyes. “I’m Piri-thak. First of my mother’s eggs. You have caused me no small amount of concern over the past two months, Ivor. I hope you can redeem yourself here,” she said.

“Well. I shall certainly try to alleviate any concerns you may have, Piri-thak. Will you at least clue me in as we travel?” I asked, receiving a nod in return.

“Liss-ran? Are we ready, otherwise?” I asked.

“I think so. If you have our rations stored in that…thing, then yes. It would greatly relieve our load. I can’t imagine how heavy it must be for you, though,” she said.

I laughed, saying, “It isn’t. That Pack weighs about thirty pounds. Always. Go ahead. Pick it up,” I said, smiling.

Distrustful, Liss-ran walked over to my Pack and gave an experimental tug on the strap, lifting it a few inches off the ground, and looked at me, wide eyed. “How? How is it like this?” she asked.

“I dunno. That’s just how the magic works, I guess. Let me get my bow and quiver out of it, and I’ll be ready to go,” I said, standing.

The group watched me as I walked to the Pack, withdrew my coat, bow and quiver, sealed it back up, finalized my dressing maneuver and settled it on my back. They certainly seemed surprised, even after watching me pull a suffocating Gon-rash out of it not a half-hour beforehand. “Are we ready?” I asked, eliciting a flurry of movement.