Way of the Sword

CHAPTER 17

Steady hands slowly pulled out the revolver from the folds of kimono that the gun was being hidden in. Dark eyes, darker than the evening sky above, looked straight towards the target, a blond swordsman by the name of Yuki. Haruki figured that the most threatening person here was Yuki. Clearly, Haruki’s swordsmanship was sub par to that of Yuki’s and it was the same irritating blond stranger that was mingling in what was suppose to be a family affair. The appearance of the strange red haired man with a scar did not worry Haruki as much. He figured that the stranger would be occupied with the White Devil, who at the moment, was still crouched at the ground, barely holding himself upright with the help of this sword. First kill Yuki, then the scarred man. Try to plead with Shuichi one more time to sign the damn document, then kill the boy. That was the plan and it was going to succeed. The first click signaled the safety being pulled off.

Sheathing his sword, Yuki walked towards his lover, who was sitting on the ground a couple meters away. The sight of the bruised skin, tear streaked face, and trembling body caused a pain in Yuki’s chest, a pain that steadily increased as he acknowledged the fact that he had been unable to rescue Shuichi sooner. When Shuichi was almost within arm’s length, Yuki moved his arms to reach for his love. Upon hearing a foreign noise, Yuki turned to his side, arms stopping in their destination. Upon seeing the gun aimed for him, Yuki’s arms changed their course of direction and instead went towards his sword and proceeded to unsheathe the weapon.

“You’re too late!” yelled out Haruki with a glee, pulling the trigger. With a satisfied smile, he took in the pleasant sound of the gun going off. There was no possible way that Yuki would be able to reach him before the gun was shot.

Yuki moved swiftly, proving the reason why he was such a skilled assassin in the war. While it was impossible to dodge a row of men with guns, to avoid one bullet was not a difficult task. With just a flick of his wrist, Yuki was able to deflect the bullet. Then, he ran towards Haruki, sword tip aimed at the gun still in Haruki’s hand. With one graceful arc, the blade struck the hand that held the gun.

With a howl of pain, Haruki lost his grip on the gun. The gun spun in the air, before landing a couple steps away from a sitting Shuichi. With a grimace, Haruki looked down at his hand, now dripping with blood. Hateful eyes turned towards Yuki, who already was walking back towards Shuichi. Not one to give up, Haruki reached inside his kimono once more, this time, his bloody hand clutching the handle of his beloved knife.

Shuichi stared as his uncle produced a knife. Violet eyes strayed towards the gun that was only barely out of reach. Not thinking, Shuichi moved to reach for the gun. Shaky hands grasped the gun and the barrel was pointed towards his uncle.

Yuki’s eyes widened at the sudden movement made by Shuichi, who had barely moved before. Even more surprising to the blonde was that Shuichi was even able to move at all with the injuries he had received. Hazel eyes grew wide in alarm as Yuki realized that Shuichi had reached for the gun.

“Stop!” yelled Shuichi, still aiming for his uncle.

Haruki stopped in his tracks, seeing his nephew holding the gun for the first time. “And what do you think you are doing, Shuichi?”

“Taking revenge,” replied Shuichi. Shakily, he stood up on wobbling legs.

***

Upon hearing the gun shot, Ryuichi ran, Kumaguro in hand. The tears that had been shed for the injury afflicted on his beloved sword were gone. Instead, the eyes held worry as he saw a crouched blond figure. He hoped that K was alright, that the bullet noise heard was not meant for K. Ryuichi’s gut tightened as he got a closer to his destination, as the faraway vision cleared to make out K’s face as the crouched blond.

“K!” exclaimed Ryuichi, stopping next to his friend. Big, watery eyes searched for the entrance of the bullet, as Kumagoro was safely sheathed. Hands wandered roughly in their haste, trying to locate a bloody spot. The task was made harder as Ryuichi tried to find the bullet hole among the sword cuts.

“I can’t find the bullet wound!” said Ryuichi, almost hysterically. He continued to look, prodding K’s body even harder.

K groaned as Ryuichi’s ministrations caused more pain to his already aching body. “I’m not shot, Ryuichi, so you can stop,” he groaned.

Ryuichi’s hands stopped, much to K’s relief.

“Huh? Then what about the gunshot I heard? And why are you on the ground?” asked Ryuichi, puzzled, wide eyed. He plopped on the ground, causing a small cloud of dust to rise.

Despite the pain coursing through his body, K still managed to roll his eyes. “First of all, that gun was not meant for me. Second of all, if you looked carefully, you would notice that the Hitokiri Battousai is standing in front of us.”

“Eh?” Ryuichi slowly turned his head around to indeed see the infamous red head standing a few steps away. Ryuichi quickly unsheathed his sword and stood up, shielding K’s crouched figure.

Slowly and deliberately, Kenshin sheathed his sword. “I have no intention of killing your friend,” said Kenshin, seriously.

“You don’t? Why not?” Ryuichi asked confused.

K groaned inwardly. Despite pulling out his sword, Ryuichi had failed to take on his fighting persona. Instead, K still recognized the mochi loving Ryuichi as holding the sword. K knew that Ryuichi was too worried and too exhausted to fight seriously at this point. Silently, K thanked whatever gods influenced the Battousai to put his sword away.

“I no longer kill,” said Kenshin. “There’s no need.”

“That’s believable, coming for you,” K whispered sharply. “You would forgive me if I find that hard to believe.”

“It’s true,” Kenshin stated softly. His eyes relaxed almost into a smile. “Killing is not necessary in this age, it is not.” With that said, Kenshin turned around and walked towards his friends.

K could not believe that Kenshin just showed his back towards his enemies. The Battousai must be really stupid, really confident, or believed in what he had just said. However, K was too tired to find out which was true for the Battousai.

“K?” asked Ryuichi, in a wobbly voice.

K turned to look at Ryuichi, who sat down once again, with his lower lip trembling.

“What is it?”

“I don’t want to play anymore,” said Ryuichi, eyes moist. “Kumagorou got hurt and doesn’t want to play either. And Kumagorou and I both don’t like seeing K on the ground like this. Let’s stop playing. Let’s go.”

K smiled at his friend. “Alright we’ll stop playing. But I want to see what happens here.”

“Ok, but not here,” said Ryuichi. He did not want to take the chance of facing anyone again. Carefully, he placed K’s arms around his own shoulders. Bearing most of K’s weight, Ryuichi snaked one arm around K’s waist.

“Here we go,” said Ryuichi, almost gleefully. Than in an instant, the two jumped over the wall. Almost silently, they jumped up towards a nearby tree limb.

Hearing a slight rustle behind him, Kenshin smiled. Now that the two most threatening fighters were gone, Kenshin could now turn his full attention towards helping Yuki. Halfway of reaching his friends, Kenshin stopped in the midst of his tracks, as he took in the sight of Shuichi aiming a gun towards Haruki.

***

“Hiro!” shouted Sano, running towards the red head.

Hiro looked up from where he was sitting, still panting from his previous battle. “Hey, Sano.”

“You alright?” asked Sano, concern leaking into his eyes.

“Just fine. What about you?”

Sano grinned and flexed his arm. “Just peachy. You know me. I’m like a rock.”

Rolling his eyes, Hiro shook his head. “Yeah right. And don’t think that I’ve forgiven you for coming when I told you specifically to stay in bed.”

“Aww, don’t be mad at anymore. And it’s not like I snuck out. Jo-chan let me come.”

“Speaking of Kaoru, where is she?” asked Hiro, looking around the yard for the raven haired girl.

“Here I am!” said Kaoru, emerging from the darkness. A sweaty, dirt streaked face smiled at the two men.

“Are you alright, Jo-chan?” asked Sano.

“Never better.”

Another bullet shot rang through the air.

“Come on, let’s go find the others,” said Sano with a worried look, as he reached towards Hiro to help him up.

***

Haruki stared coldly at Shuichi. The sorry excuse of a nephew was barely able to stand without shaking, yet he dared to point a gun at his uncle. Haruki could not contain the harsh laughter that burst out of him. “Why don’t you put down that gun before you hurt yourself?”

“No,” said Shuichi, once again. In an effort to stop the shaking of his gun, Shuichi grasped the handle with both hands. Yet, the gun continued to shake. Shuichi’s hands looked abnormally pale against the dark metal of the gun.

“Shuichi, you don’t want to do this,” said Yuki.

“Yes I do. He killed my parents. He tried to kill you. He tried to kill me. I know what I am doing.” Shuichi tried to fight a wave of nausea that threaten to overcome him.

Yuki grimaced upon hearing those words. He knew that Shuichi would not find the peace he desired by killing his uncle. In fact, the mere action would more likely haunt the boy. Yuki, despite all his training, still could not be the emotionless killer he pretended that he knew others believed he was. He knew that Shuichi, his innocent Shuichi, did not have what it took to live with the knowledge of taking someone else’s life.

“Shuichi, put the gun down. We’ll go get the police. You don’t want to kill him,” said Yuki, calmly.

“No.” Shuichi gripped harder on the gun.

“Shuichi, just think about what you are about to do. I know you really don’t-”

“He killed my parents, Yuki!” screamed Shuichi. The gun shook in the clasp of the pale hands as his voice steadily rose. “The bastard killed my parents!”

Yuki winced, not so much from the volume, but more from the pain in Shuichi’s voice.

“I have to revenge my parents!” Shuichi continued to scream. “Don’t you understand?”

“I do,” said Yuki, softly. He took a step towards Shuichi. Just a few more steps than he could reach the shaking boy. “But you don’t want to kill anyone Shuichi.”

“Yuki,” warned Shuichi, his violet eyes dark and intense, “step aside.” Yuki stood between Shuichi’s gun and his uncle and truthfully, despite holding gun, Shuichi did not have confidence in his skill that he would not accidently shoot Yuki instead.

“No,” replied Yuki softly, taking yet another step closer. Out of the corner his eyes, he could see Kenshin making his way towards them and stop. Yuki shook his head slightly, to signal that Kenshin should come no closer. The message must have gotten across, because the red head remained where he was, unmoving.

Shuichi gritted his teeth. Holding the gun with both hands, Shuichi side stepped. “If you aren’t going to move, I am.” The gun continued to tremble. Shuichi watched the cold metal vibrate softly, as if he was not the one holding the weapon. How embarrassing that the gun is shaking in my hands, thought Shuichi, as he continued to walk in order to better aim at his uncle.

Yuki cursed silently to himself. He regretted that he was not a more tactful person. His answer to everything was to draw out his sword, causing his problem to either run away or staying to be slain. Here, in this new situation, where his sword could not help him, Yuki was at a utter loss. More than ever, he felt himself being out place in this Meji Era. Hazel eyes continued to watch Shuichi, as the small figure walked away from Yuki.

Soon, the three men were at a stand still, the three forming a triangle form of sort on the ground. Yuki glanced at the evening sky and he knew that the sunrise was only a couple hours away. He had not expected to be here this long. All he was suppose to do was to save Shuichi. Instead, here was Shuichi, holding the gun, for what Yuki guessed, was his first time.
Haruki kept glancing nervously between Yuki and Shuichi. The dagger still in his hand, Haruki wondered if he should make a break for it. Right now, things were not looking too good on his favor. He decided to try test his luck, looking for the perfect opportune time to attack Yuki.

Hoping that he was aiming the gun the correct away, Shuichi stood facing his uncle. Some family that bastard turned out to be. For such a small piece of metal, the gun felt heavy in his hands. So heavy that Shuichi felt that his arms would fall off. And he felt so tired. He just wanted to sleep. To get away.

“Please,” whispered Shuichi.

The quiet whisper was barely audible to Yuki. He glanced at his young lover, looking so lost and tired. The fading light of the moon made Shuichi’s pale skin glow, almost making him a vision of a ghost or a spirit from another world. Yuki took another cautious step forward, crushing his instinct to run towards Shuichi.

“Come on Shuichi,” said Yuki. He took another step. “Put down the gun. Let’s go home.”

“Home?” asked Shuichi dully. “If you haven’t noticed, we are at my home.”

“No,” said Yuki, shaking his head. “Home. Back with me and Kenshin, Kaoru, Sano, Hiro, and Yahiko. Back to where you belong.”

Shuichi almost tore his eyes away from his uncle. The suggestion sounded really nice. “We can go now?” he asked in a quiet voice.

“Yes,” nodded Yuki. “As soon as you put the gun down.”

“As soon as I put the gun down.” Shuichi looked at the gun and back toward his uncle. His uncle seemed so far away. Shuichi did not even know if he could hit his uncle. Didn’t even know if he could kill his uncle. All of a sudden, the whole concept of him shooting someone seemed ridiculous. How threatening did he look, aiming a trembling gun towards someone? At that point, all Shuichi wanted to do was sleep. Maybe take a bath. But mostly sleep. Slowly, Shuichi lowered the gun, just a centimeter.

The hesitation on Shuichi’s part was all that Haruki needed. Despite the fact that the boy did not lower the gun all the way did not stop Haruki from dashing straight forward towards Yuki. As a businessman, Haruki learned that he had to take whatever opportunities there were, no matter how small they may seem. No risk, no gain. Angling the dagger towards his opponent, Haruki closed in on the distance, with a feverish look in his black eyes.

Yuki heard the man coming. He was prepared to turn around and defend himself when he heard Shuichi’s shout. Instinctively, the blond turned to look at the owner of the shrill cry, just in time to see the finger pull on the trigger.
B
efore Shuichi could lower the gun further, he saw his sorry excuse of an uncle running towards Yuki. All Shuichi could see was the dagger, glistening, catching the silvery light of the moon on its sharp edge. The man was going to take another person Shuichi loved out of his life. Shuichi was going to lose another person. A loud scream rang in his ears, which he recognized as his own voice. Before Shuichi could think, he squeezed the gun. No matter what, he could not give up another person to his uncle. Not again.

Seeing Haruki move, Kenshin dashed towards the man. Kenshin had promised himself to protect the ones he cared about and he was not about to break that promise here.

The gun rang, the bullet discharging at an amazing speed through the air. Finding its target, the cold metal struck flesh, cleanly coming out from the other side. Blood dripped out of the wound, the flow increasing until a river of the crimson liquid ran down the pale flesh.

Tired violet eyes widened in horror as the whole scene played out in slow motion in front of Shuichi. He saw Yuki block Haruki’s attack. Then, Yuki shoved the man away, out of the range of the bullet, as the metal struck Yuki on the shoulder instead. Kenshin reached Haruki, who was knocked unconscious by the hilt of Kenshin’s sword. Shuichi let out a hoarse scream as blood continued to gush from Yuki’s shoulder. The gun dropped from Shuichi’s hands, landing on the dirt ground noiselessly.

“Yuki,” sobbed Shuichi. He collapsed to the ground, as if he was a ragged doll. Yuki was wounded because of him. Stupid. He shot Yuki. Tears over flooded the violet orbs, spilling onto the ground.

Touching his shoulder, Yuki grimaced in pain. He felt the wound and knew that it was not something that he was going to die from. Comparing it to the wounds he had received during the war, this one was minimal, maybe requiring a couple stitches, but definitely not life threatening. He tore his eyes from his newly acquired injury, the hazel orbs settling instead to a trembling figure on the ground. With steady strides that masked the pain that started to burn in his shoulder, Yuki made way towards Shuichi. Once in front of his lover, Yuki crouched down, kneeling on one knee.

A hand grasped the lower chin, tilting Shuichi’s face so that the crying boy looked up to see Yuki’s face. “Shuichi, why are you crying?”

“Why?” asked Shuichi, chocking on his sobs. “Why did you get yourself shot? How could have I shot you?” Shuichi looked sideways, unable to face the consequence of his gunshot.

“Shuichi look at me.” Yuki received no response or movement of any kind. Sighing, Yuki let go of the chin he was holding. “I couldn’t let you shoot your uncle.”

“Why? He was going to attack you! Do you think it was better for me if you were shot?”
“Shuichi,” said Yuki, in a faraway voice, “you know I was an assassin during the war, right?”

Dirty pink hair rustled softly in a nod.

“I don’t talk about it. I don’t want to remember it. But I always do. Remember it, I mean.” Yuki paused. When he spoke again, his voice sounded hoarse. “I didn’t want to kill those people. It was just a job. But no matter what, the dead always come back to haunt you. You can justify your actions at that time, but not later. I didn’t want you to feel that, the burden of knowing that you took someone’s life with your very own hands.”

Yuki stared at his own hands, both dirty, one streaked red with his own blood. Taking a deep breath, Yuki tried to continue, but could not. All the horrors of his past came sweeping over him, over the barrier he had so carefully constructed. He could not explain anymore to Shuichi, his voice just would not let him. Yuki wanted to explain that he rather receive a minor wound than for Shuichi to have killed someone. That Yuki would to it over again, just to keep Shuichi the way he was. Yet, Yuki was unable to say them, as if his voice ran away in fear of having spoken what should have remained silent. So Yuki did the only thing he could do, to continue to stare at his hands.

The rivers of tears had subdued to only a trickle from Shuichi’s eyes. He stared at the man in front of him. Hei understood why Yuki had done what he did. The understanding did not make Shuichi feel any happier, but at least he understood. The guilt will still be there, knowing that he caused the gaping wound on Yuki’s shoulder. Yet, with the guilt, Shuichi felt immense warmth, knowing Yuki’s sacrifice. Without a thought, Shuichi reached for Yuki. Arms encircled around the waist of the blond and a tear streaked face rested on the chest.

“Thank you,” mumbled Shuichi into the embrace.

Yuki startled, taking a moment to disengage from his past. Finding Shuichi pressed close to him, Yuki allowed a tiny smile to appear on his face. Getting into a more comfortable position, he dropped his other knee to the ground. Resting on his heels, he closed his own arms around the Shuichi’s shoulders. Resting his cheek in Shuichi’s hair, Yuki whispered, “Let’s go home.”

Shuichi looked up, with a brilliant smile. “Let’s go home.”

***

Hiro, Sano, and Kaoru ran towards the direction from where the bullet had sounded. Upon arriving, they saw Yuki and Shuichi in an embrace and Kenshin standing next to Haruki, who seemed to have been knocked out and sprawled on the ground.

“Oi! Kenshin!” shouted Sano, running. “Where’s the blond and that weird brunette?”

“You mean K and his friend?” asked Kenshin. He smiled, his purple eyes forming half moon shapes. “I don’t think they will bother us again, that I don’t.”

“What happened to Haruki?” questioned Kaoru, tucking in a stray strand of hair.

“Yeah, is he dead?” asked Sano, nudging the fallen body with his foot.

“Sano,” reprimanded Hiro, with a slap towards the arm. “Don’t do that!”

“What?” asked Sano, innocently.

“No, he’s not dead,” replied Kenshin, with an amused look on his face. “But I think it’s better to have the police come now, that I do.”

“Kenshin,” said Kaoru, dropping her voice suddenly.

“What is it, Kaoru-dono?”

“Are they okay?” she asked, leaning her head towards Yuki and Shuichi.

“Yes.” A soft and knowing look drew across Kenshin\'s face. “But I think they are tired and would like to go home.”

***

During the time that Sano and Hiro went to the police and brought back the officers, Shuichi, no longer able to stay awake from his torture and the excitement of the past couple hours, had fallen asleep in Yuki’s arms. Yuki, despite his wounded shoulder, refused to relinquish Shuichi to anyone else, stubbornly holding the boy in his arms, despite his own urge to fall asleep.

Never was Kenshin’s clout due to his role in the war more appreciated, as the chief tried to handle the whole affair as quickly as possible. It was miracle that no one had died, everyone had been just knocked out. The fallen men had been awakened and led out, going towards their new home, the jail. The police could not wake Haruki up so the man behind all this was carried away. When all was done, the chief have left, bowing to Kenshin, thanking him for “all the work that you have done to make Japan what it is today.” Kenshin just nodded, the brief moment of anguish that crossed his face going unnoticed by the awestruck chief.

K and Ryuichi watched the whole affair from their place in the tree. Even though K felt better, Ryuichi still had his arms around K’s waist and K did not bother telling Ryuichi to remove his arms.

“I guess this means we won’t get part of our payment,” mused K, watching Haruki being carried away.

“It’s ok,” said Ryuichi in a childish voice. “Can we go get mochi now?”
K smiled. “Yes, we can go get mochi now.”

“Goodie!” Ryuichi stood up, dragging K along with him. Brown eyes twinkled with excitement and happiness. “Did I tell you that Kumagorou got hurt? And did I tell you..”

K wondered, as he has done many times before, where Ryuichi got his strength. He allowed himself be picked up and was led to the next nearby tree limb. Ryuichi’s endless chatter continued as the two men stealthily moved, with the first brilliant rays of the sun shining over the horizon.

***

It was a bright and early morning by the time the tired group of Kenshin-gumi, Yuki, and Shuichi made their way back towards the Kamiya dojo. The tired looking group finally walked through the gates of the dojo and was instantly greeted with Megumi, who looked as if she could shoot daggers from her eyes.

“Just what in the world did you guys think you were doing!” shouted Megumi. She glared at the sight before her. Kaoru just gave a sheepish smile as Kenshin tried to walk away unnoticed. Sano gave a guilty grin as he leaned on Hiro for support, as the poor brown head had been for the later part of their walk back home. Hiro said nothing, but his face showed a mixture of worry and anger as he supported his weakened lover. Yuki did not even bat an eye as he continued to hold a sleeping Shuichi.

“Hey, did you guys go have fun without me?” asked Yahiko, appearing from the corner of the house. The boy yawned, rubbing a hand across his eyes.

“Did you just wake up, stupid disciple of mine?” asked Kaoru, glad for the distraction. “Sleepy head.”

“Shut up, ugly!”

“Who are you calling ugly?!” Kaoru and Yahiko launched into another verbal assault, the others just ignoring them.

“Well?” demanded Megumi. “What happened? Sano, if you reopened that wound of yours, I’m going to kill you myself!”

“Maa, maa, Megumi-dono,” said Kenshin, pleadingly. “Do you think you can take a look at Shuichi and Yuki first?”

“Hmph. This way.” Megumi walked towards the large main room, where meals were usually taken. As the group followed, they could hear Megumi mumbling to hereself, “I come here, early too, to check on that stupid Sano, and is he here? No. Are any of them here? No. See if I help them next...” The group walked silently behind, not wanting Megumi’s mumbling to turn into loud ranting. Even Kaoru and Yahiko had stopped their bickering.

With efficiency, Megumi treated Yuki’s shoulder wound. His other arm was still around Shuichi, who now slept using Yuki’s legs as a pillow. After bandaging the wound, Megumi treated other various cuts on Yuki\'s body, hands working swiftly. That taken care of, Megumi turned her attention towards Shuichi. She tried her best to clean the boy up with a washcloth and a basin of water. As the dirt and dried blood were wiped away, dark bruises, cuts, gashes, and other evidences of torture were revealed. With a tight lip, Megumi treated the wounds, while the others finally realized to what extent Shuichi had been injured to. Now and then, flashes of pain would fall upon the sleeping face as Megumi treated the wounds. Luckily, Shuichi’s head wound was not serious. The whip marks on his backs were going to scar, but they should eventually go away. The bruises should disappear over time and no life threatening injuries were present.

Yuki felt renewed anger as a bruised and beaten body of his lover was displayed in front of him. He almost wished that he had killed that stupid son of a bitch himself. It was lucky for that evil man that Yuki swore never to kill again.

After treating Shuichi, Megumi tended towards Sano, who was putting up a front of being alright until Megumi threw a deadly glare. Fighting to stay awake, Sano allowed himself to be treated. His previous wound had reopened, but just a little. Now growling, Megumi treated the wound once more, not even trying to be gentle. She then looked over Hiro, who wished that she did not, after seeing her rough treatment on Sano. Kenshin and Kaoru was just given a once over by Megumi, as the two came out last night\'s antics almost unscathed.

“Now, off to bed, all of you!” commanded Megumi. While still angry at Sano for doing something stupid again, Megumi had to admit that she was relieved that none of the injuries she had treated were life threatening. Oh, they were going to feel some aches and pains, but at least there was no lost body parts and none of them were unconscious.

“Yes ma’am!” said Sano, half asleep, earning him another death glare from Megumi.

“So,” said Hiro, standing up. “What’s going to happen next?”

“What do you mean?” asked Kaoru, as they all stood up as well.

“I mean, so is Shuichi going back to his home? Is he now officially in charge of his family business? What’s going to happen to Haruki? I mean, the bastard still alive,” said Hiro, frowning in thought.

“Saa,” said Kenshin, glancing over at Yuki. “Perhaps we should worry about all that after some sleep.”

Yuki picked up Shuichi. There was no way that Yuki was going to lose Shuichi when he just rescued his lover. But, Yuki could not help but think over what Hiro had just said. Was Shuichi going to return home? What was Yuki going to do? After all, the Kamiya dojo was not his home. Heck, even Yuki did not belong there. He only came to visit Kenshin and look how long he had already imposed on Kaoru. With thoughts of uncertainty knotting in his stomach, Yuki made his way towards his bedroom with his precious cargo in his arms.