This shouldn’t all fit in one bag

“Um hi, I guess.” Kato rebuked himself almost immediately ‘I guess? real strong opener man.’ The creature just looked at him quizzically.

It had a somewhat humanoid appearance; hunched over like an old man, with its' bony frame wrapped in a robe, that seemed ancient. It was tattered and wouldn’t have been out of place in a museum. The creature looked as if it had been mauled by a big cat, a chunk of skin was missing from its right shoulder, that had been exposed by a matching hole in its attire.

Beady eyes over a long-hooked nose stared expectantly at Kato.

“///??///???//” It made its noises again; they were harsh and guttural sounding, the sneer that had marred its features, was seemingly emboldened by Kato’s lack of comprehension, and twisted further, its cheeks turned up and beady eyes crinkled in.

Kato, not one to judge based off appearance, decided maybe it just didn’t like him being unsure. “Hi” Kato said again, much more resolutely.

The creature just stared.

“Hmm” Kato mused, then quickly jumped to the next logical sequence of events, “Hi, hello, sup dude” Kato thought for a moment after the creature still didn’t get it. ‘It must just not like me dispensing of the formalities’ he thought. “Salutations” he said quite proud of himself, accompanying the word with a long sweeping bow.

The creature taking this as a sign of Kato’s superior intellect, finally acted. It’s clawed grimy hand disappeared into its robe, and after moments a small bag made of what appeared to be leather was flourished in front of it.

Kato, the master of social scenarios, was quick to catch on, “wow, a bag,” he paused “I mean so cool who doesn’t love a good bag, me personally I never leave the house without one” Kato instinctively went for his. After finding nothing his hands fell by his side “Right, the strange place, strange clothes thing” he muttered under his breath.

The creature looked at him, a somewhat sardonic glint in its eyes.

“Ok I don’t have a bag, no need to lord it over me”.

The creature’s hand reared back, and Kato instinctively took a step away. “Listen I don’t need a bag its fine alright” Kato’s hand raised in an effort to placate the creature. A short sharp guttural laugh, at least that’s what Kato presumed it to be, emerged from the beast. Kato glowered at it, and the creature’s arm suddenly swung forward.

Kato took another step away and was greeted by more harsh laughter and a soft thump. Kato, with his cheeks rapidly reddening, he did his best to ignore the creature’s mocking laughter and instead focused on the soft thump.

It was a bag. The creature’s bag, and it was in front of him.

“For me?” Kato looked at the creature questioningly.

It paused for a moment then stared at him blankly. After a couple more moment of silence passed, Kato knew what he must do, repeat the question it must have not heard him, he triumphantly thought. “For me?” he asked again.

The creature, stunned by Kato’s ability to ask questions more than once, made its noises once more. “///???///??//?” while emphatically pointing at the bag and then Kato.

“For me” Kato said again whilst leaning over to pick it up, “you shouldn’t have” he opened it with a brimming sense of excitement that was barely contained. “It’s empty” he looked back to the creature, who was doing its best to act tough. Not letting the hurt that must have been caused by Kato’s statement to show.

“I mean bags are really cool, I love bags, just as I was saying earlier” Kato smoothly recovered. The creature, still doing its best to act tough and emotionless regarded Kato, then pointed at him again, then at the lumen fruit hanging up around him.

“You want one of those, little guy? Ok don’t say I don’t look after my guests” Kato picked one of the glowing lumen fruits and then remembering his manners said “if you’re thirsty I have water… in the pond” he trailed off. Luckily the creature seemed unperturbed by his statement and gave him a warm smile that didn’t quite reach its eyes.

Kato walked over to the creature and made to pass the fruit to it.

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“//???///???/////?”

“Huh you want me to put it in the bag” Kato looked at the creature now making a motion for Kato to put it in the bag.

“This bag is way too small” he said to the creature, now using a soft voice as one would when talking to a child in a manner not to upset them. The creature repeated the motion.

Kato held the fruit by the side of the bag “see its too big, it just won’t fit” Kato immediately felt embarrassed, ‘perhaps a poor choice of words’ he thought. The creature however, in what must have been a supreme act of willpower didn’t even laugh, it just repeated the gesture.

“Fine” Kato muttered now convinced that the creature was waiting for him to try so that after he had proved that the bag was too small it could laugh again. To his great shock the fruit not only fit but disappeared after passing through the opening.

Kato turned to the creature then held the bag out with its end open and facing the creature. It looked unimpressed. “Right, right it’s your bag of course you know how it works” Kato ran his left hand over the back of his head feeling somewhat foolish.

“Moving on” he stated. “What’s next little buddy?” the creature pointed at another fruit. “Hungry, are you?” Kato couldn’t blame it, just minutes ago he had eaten enough to keep him sated for days. In fact, he felt sorry for the creature, “don’t worry little guy, I’ve got this.”

Fruit after fruit went into the bag, miraculously he wasn’t any more burdened than when he started there were no signs of the weight it must have encompassed. Half an hour at least passed, fruit after fruit disappeared into the bad, with the creature and Kato just enjoying the silence of each other’s company. When he got to the last fruit Kato turned back to the creature and said loudly “last one” with a wide grin plastered his face.

The creature grumbled and pointed to the last fruit. “Okay grumpy” Kato said, picking it and dropping it in the open bag with practiced ease.

The floor started shaking, then the walls. Kato was no geologist, but he was pretty sure they weren’t supposed to do that.

The creature was either unalarmed or had an unbelievably good poker face.

Kato, with the bag incident fresh on his mind trusted the creature’s collected demeanour, that was until the stalactites began to fall. Great jagged pieces of stone at their smallest easily three feet long and over a foot wide, weighing more than a large man, began crashing around him. “Run” Kato exclaimed shouting at the creature. But it just walked to the middle of the cavern and stood there waiting, for what Kato didn’t know.

He was tempted to run and just leave it, but this was the first friendly face Kato had seen since he’d got here, and he wasn’t prepared to lose the type of guy who would gift strangers bags.

“Don’t worry, I'm coming!” Kato ran, rapidly covering the distance between them. He put a hand on the creature’s shoulder in an effort to get its attention, only to be met with a closed fist denting his stomach sending him sprawling across the floor, “Little buddy?” Kato wheezed, the creature’s eyes met his, cold, calculating, and apathetic.

Before Kato even had the chance to register the sudden betrayal the wall exploded.

Calling the creature that emerged from the wall a serpent would give a false impression of its sheer size. Larger than a house and with pitch-black scales easily larger than a hand. It had spherical blood red eyes, slit with a sword shaped pupil.

It looked like a monster, but more than that it radiated the sentiment best described as you have seen me, now you are dead. It was as if on an instinctual level the behemoth’s very presence instilled fear.

This was all before it opened its mouth. Large, white fangs were exposed, with globules of dark green liquid concentrated on the glistening tips, dripping down on the stone beneath with great hisses as the venom bored through solid stone. A shrieking sound filled the air as the creature arched backwards.

Before the snake, that was what Kato could only assume to be nightmares brought into flesh, stood the creature. It didn’t even look like it cared. ‘Just another day’, Kato nervously thought to himself.

Kato watched, unable to look away, it would die and then he would be next. Kato really didn’t like dying it was something he had tried really hard to avoid int the past. ‘To be given a second chance and then to go out like this? To some monster who only viewed him as food or worse entertainment. This would not do.’ Kato stood defiant in the face of defeat, and grabbed a fist sized rock, he hurled it at the monster, empowering the throw with pure adrenaline and hope. The rock sailed across the cavern, flying towards the beast, before losing momentum and crunching into the floor with less than half the distance needed covered.

“No” Kato whispered the realities of the situation seeming to finally hit him, his life would not end here, he wouldn’t let it, not again. ‘Again’ he thought in shock where did that come from?

The creature, however, was not aware or just didn't care for the spiritual realisations happening a stone’s throw, or perhaps two stone throws away from it. It appeared steadfast and resolved, a beacon of hope, when everything looked to be lost.

The snake reared back, and before it could even lunge, died. A hole had been carved straight through its centre, and on the other side, the creature stood, coated in blood. It turned and looked at Kato, a malevolent grin plastering its previously blank expression.

A chain materialised into its clawed left hand and hit the ground with a heavy thump. Kato took a step back and the creature laughed, the previous joy Kato had felt evaporated. Fear taking its place.

The creature whipped the ground in front of it and a sharp crack reverberated throughout the cavern. It began walking towards Kato, slowly, savouring his growing horror.

A lone stalactite fell, arcing through the air, finally giving into the forces that had shook the surrounding subterranean expanse. The creature was impaled, and Kato started laughing, softly at first, but growing more and more maniacal with every second.

Kato circled his chest with his right index finger. A comforting sign, thanking Cogul for his good luck and approached the corpses.