Your arms were heavy with exhaustion, the smoldering sun increasing the harsh ache in your bones. There hadn't seemed to be a town in sight, only the vast expanse of heated land filling your gaze. Your hair was soaked in sweat, dirt caked uncomfortably under your nails, blood trickling from the cuts that lingered on your skin.

Even then, you continued to shuffle through the wasteland of a planet, only pure hope fueling you. It wasn't yourself you were worried about — no — but the injured male that was currently slumped over your back.

You don't recall how it happened, but there was gunfire, a lot of it. The sight of Vash's bloodied form still lingered in your mind, and the urge to chew him out for his selflessness was strong, but you refrained from doing so. You knew better, especially so when he was whispering soft, familiar words under his breath.

"You can put me down, friend..." His tone was content, urging for you to just stop. That's what you hated most about him, how selfless he was. It didn't seem long that he was pleading with you, though, your knees soon buckling, leaving both him and yourself slumped across the ground. You could barely lift your head to look at him, seeing his fingers twitch as he let out a soft, weakened groan. It was pointless, blood flowed from his wounds like honey from a bottle.

Just barely, he urged himself to crawl just the slightest bit closer, blood soaking the ground below him. It was dreadful, how his eyes seemed to lighten for just a second when he looked up at you.

He reached forward not long after, hands soon finding yours, his skin crusted with his own blood. He was dying. He knew that. You knew that. He didn't want to leave you alone, never was a plan of his. "{{user}}." The name sounded so perfect falling from his lips, just like it always did.