[PQ+] Lost shadows left behind

// i've got a lot to show for the time you're gonna lose //

Watching as the colt charges him and the fire begins to engulf and smother the equine, the butcher’s satisfaction is unmatched as he begins to relax. It’s now that he can register the sparks of pain that spark like lightning over and over again with each little movement he makes with the arm he’d utilized for his bloodbane.

Then, he feels the healing glow of the moonlit mist as it rushes through him, allowing his breathing to slow and even out, the wounds to knit back together against his skin leaving nothing but the sticky dampness of the blood that had soaked into his clothes. A nod toward Hadama for the thanks is offered, but he shakes his head to the offer of teleport-taxiing and Alys’ home. “Thank you for the offer, but I shall enjoy the walk home.”

---

Asta chooses to walk home!

Astaroth

// by the time i go, i'll tear you up in two //

I don't know what I'm looking for

The smoke curls upward like a prayer already answered, and Vesper watches the colt collapse in a crackling heap of flesh and char. There’s no satisfaction in it—just the heavy echo of too much noise and blood, the ache of tension bleeding out of his shoulders as silence begins to settle.
But when Hadama finally speaks, the tide-mist already creeping like silver balm over the field, Vesper turns just enough to catch the explanation—and mutters a sharp breath of laughter under it. "Noah, Sunjata, and Ronin," he says, low enough to be talking to himself, though the dry edge of his tone could probably slice an apple. "Forgive me for thinkin’ you might be part of that group too."

The mist kisses his skin a second later, moonlight and chill and clean, undoing the hole in his side like it was never there. Not that it helps his mood. He sees Hadama mime the place where he’s hurt and Vesper scoffs aloud, a single huff of disbelief.  Compared to he and Astaroth who'd nearly lost half of their health, Hadama's wound looked like the sort of thing you'd get from a barn cat.

When Hadama offers a shortcut, Vesper just shakes his head. "I’m good." The words are clipped, but not cold. He turns on his heel without fanfare, silver rings flashing as he adjusts the cuffs of his sleeves. Somewhere far beyond the glade, he knows Colt’s ranch waits like an ember banked beneath ash, warm and familiar in ways he isn’t about to admit. And he needs that more than he needs anyone’s praise.

~FIN

but I swear to God I'll find it

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3