One morning at the training grounds, Leonie was with Mercedes, teaching her how to use a bow.
"Okay Mercedes, follow along", Leonie said, "draw your arrow back as far as you can."
Leonie drew an arrow back on her steel bow, and Mercedes did the same with her training bow.
"Now take a deep breath and focus on the target", Leonie said.
Leonie took a deep breath followed by Mercedes.
"And now", Leonie said, "release."
Leonie released her arrow from her bow, and it hit the center of the target she had been aiming for.
"Yes", Leonie said, "bullseye!"
Mercedes released her arrow, and it hit the area just outside the center.
"Hey, not bad", Leonie said.
"Thank you, Leonie", Mercedes said, "I think I'm starting to get the hang of wielding a bow."
"You sure are", Leonie said, "say, just out of curiosity, why are you learning how to use a bow when you're focusing on your faith and reason skills in class?"
"Well, recently during my studies, I discovered that I have a hidden talent with the bow, so I thought I'd learn how to use one because it might come in handy in the future", Mercedes said.
"Good thinking", Leonie said, "having a variety of skills can be pretty useful when you're in battle."
Just then, Petra walked by the two with her steel bow in her hands.
"Oh, hey there, Petra", Leonie said.
"Greetings Leonie, Mercedes", Petra said.
"Are you here to practice using your bow too", Mercedes asked.
"That is correct", Petra said, "I am wanting to increase my bow skills so that I may grow stronger with it."
"Alright, then", Leonie said, "go right ahead."
Leonie and Mercedes stepped away, and Petra walked up to the target with her bow.
"Let us be doing this", Petra said.
She took out an arrow from her quiver, drew it back on her bow, took a deep breath as she focused on the target, then fired her arrow, followed by another one, and then a third one, and after all three arrows had been fired, they all hit the same place: the center of the target.
"Yes", Petra said, "that is what I am liking to see."
Leonie and Mercedes had both seen Petra's skills with the bow, and were quite amazed.
"Oh my", Mercedes said, "what impressive skills."
"Thank you", Petra said.
"Where'd you learn to shoot a bow like that", Leonie asked.
"In my homeland, Brigid", Petra said, "back home, it is necessary to hunt for your own food to eat, so learning how to hunt is very essential."
"Sounds like you take hunting seriously", Leonie said.
"Yes we do", Petra said, "it is our way of life."
She walked over to the target and pulled her arrows out of it.
"And now, I must be leaving", Petra said, "I have much studying that needs to be done."
"Okay", Leonie said, "I guess I'll see you around, then."
"Same to you", Petra said.
Petra picked up her school bag and left the training grounds, and Mercedes spoke to Leonie.
"It sounds like Petra knows a thing or two about hunting", Mercedes said, "I'll bet she's an expert at it."
"Yeah, sure", Leonie said, "an expert."
Later, Leonie was walking through the dining hall on her way to the fishing pond, when she noticed Byleth looking concerned about something.
"Hello, Professor", Leonie said, "is everything okay?"
"Oh, hello, Leonie", Byleth said, "I'm just wondering where Ignatz is."
"How come", Leonie asked.
"I gave him hunting duty today, but he hasn't gotten back yet", Byleth said, "I'm worried something might have happened to him."
"Maybe we better put together a search party to see if we can find him", Leonie said.
But that was about to turn out to be unnecessary, because right at that moment, Ignatz entered the dining hall.
"Hello", Ignatz said.
"Never mind", Leonie said.
"Ignatz, there you are", Byleth said, "what happened?"
"I'm sorry, Professor", Ignatz said, "I was having trouble hunting for animals."
"I see", Byleth said.
"But then I ran into Petra, and she showed me some techniques for hunting that she knows", Ignatz said.
"That is corrected", Petra's voice said.
Everyone turned and noticed Petra walking into the dining hall carrying a large sack over her shoulders.
"Ignatz needed assistance, so I made the decision to share my knowledge with him", Petra said, "and together, we had a bountiful hunt."
"It sure looks like it", Byleth said, "good job, you two."
"Thanks", Ignatz said, "Petra knows so much about hunting."
"I have known it since I was a child", Petra said, "it is the way of my homeland."
Leonie was starting to feel a little jealous of Petra.
"She thinks people in Brigid are the only people who know how to hunt", Leonie thought, "clearly she hasn't met any of the hunters back in my village."
That afternoon, the students in the Golden Deer house were at the road in Magdred Way battling some bandits, but not long after they had taken care of them, a Giant Wolf appeared, and Byleth and her students were now working hard to try and bring it down together.
"Keep going, everyone", Byleth said, "we can beat this mutt together!"
Several members of the group attacked the wolf from different sides, with Byleth attacking it with the Sword of the Creator, Hilda attacking it with her steel axe, and Lysithea casting Swarm Z on it, but the wolf continued to fight back, not noticing Claude watching what was happening nearby.
"Looks like the others have worn him down", Claude said, "time to make my move."
He took out his steel axe and charged towards the wolf, and then used his Diamond Axe combat art on it, which did a large amount of damage to it, and also made it dizzy.
"Looks like I broke its armor", Claude said.
"Good work, Claude", Byleth said, "now let's wrap this thing up!"
"Way ahead of you", Leonie said.
Leonie took out her steel bow and fired an arrow at the wolf using her Curved Shot combat art, and managed to completely empty one of its health reserves.
"I've almost got it", Leonie said.
But right after she attacked it, the wolf came back to its senses and swiped its claw at her, prompting her to quickly dodge it.
"Whoa", Leonie said.
The wolf attacked her again, and because her bow wasn't meant for close combat, Leonie couldn't do anything to fight back, but all of a sudden, Petra's voice could be heard from nearby.
"You will be slapped down", Petra shouted.
The wolf turned its head in the direction Petra's voice came from, and she fired a critical shot from her steel bow at it, which was enough to defeat it, and it fell to the ground dead.
"My heart is full of victory", Petra said.
Byleth saw that Petra had defeated the wolf and spoke to her class.
"Looks that that about wraps things up here", Byleth said, "good work class, now let's head back to the Monastery."
As everyone in the Golden Deer house made their way back to the Monastery, a few of the students praised Petra for how she had defeated the wolf.
"Wow, Petra", Raphael said, "you were amazing."
"Yes indeed", Lysithea said, "your skills were exemplary."
"Thank you", Petra said, "you have my gratitude for your compliments."
"You were so strong and courageous", Marianne said, "hopefully one day, I'll be just like you."
Leonie was watching Petra getting praised by her peers, feeling frustrated about the outcome of the battle.
"I would have defeated that wolf if he hadn't recovered and attacked me", Leonie said, "but Petra just had to jump in and steal my thunder."
She was now more jealous than ever.
"One way or another, I'm gonna prove that I'm as good a hunter as she thinks she is", Leonie said.
The next day, class had ended for the Golden Deer, and all the students were just getting ready to leave, when Byleth addressed them.
"One more thing, class", Byleth said, "I need some volunteers to help take care of something that's come up in the dining hall."
"It's not dishwashing, is it", Claude asked, "because last time I helped with that, I ended up breaking more plates than I did washing."
"No Claude, it's nothing like that", Byleth said, "they still need some more meat and have asked me if I can spare any of you to go out into the forest to do some hunting."
"Oh, I see", Claude said.
Leonie decided that this was the perfect opportunity for her to prove that she was just as good with a bow as Petra.
"I'll show her just how skilled I am", Leonie thought.
"Any volunteers", Byleth asked.
Leonie raised her hand.
"I'll go", Leonie said.
Then, Petra raised her hand.
"I will go as well", Petra said.
Leonie was surprised by Petra volunteering.
"Alright, then", Byleth said, "I'll let you both do it."
Leonie was even more surprised by Byleth saying that.
"You're both very good with the bow and come from backgrounds where hunting is an important part of your culture", Byleth said, "together, I'm sure you'll both do great."
"But Professor, surely you don't need two hunters for something like this", Leonie said, "one should be just enough, don't you think?"
"I think the two of us working together would be very advantageous", Petra said, "with both of us in the woods hunting for prey, we will be able to cover more ground and have better chances of bringing back more meat."
"Exactly", Byleth said, "well put, Petra."
"Thank you", Petra said.
"Now then, you'd best be on your way", Byleth said, "the dining hall staff needs that meat before dinner time tonight."
"Right away, Professor", Petra said, "come Leonie, let us be going now."
Petra walked out of the classroom with Leonie following her, the latter red in the face with anger.
"I can't believe I'm actually doing this", Leonie thought, "why can't Petra just resist the urge to show off her bow skills for five minutes?"
Soon, the two students were walking together through the woods, and while Leonie was still unhappy over having to work with Petra, Petra was looking forward to doing some hunting.
"I have much excitement for our hunting trip", Petra said, "what about you, Lenoie?"
"Yeah, sure", Leonie said, "I've got lots of excitement too."
"I hear that you hail from a village of hunters", Petra said.
"That's right", Leonie said, "I'm from Sauin Village back in the Alliance."
"I'm sure you've learned many kinds of techniques for hunting from there", Petra said.
"That's right", Leonie said, "I'm pretty much an expert at it."
"I see", Petra said, "perhaps I could pass my knowledge of hunting on to you so you will know even more."
"No thank you", Leonie said, "I don't need to know any of your Brigid hunting tips."
"Are you sure", Petra asked, "you might find them very useful."
"I said no thank you", Leonie said, "I'm a better hunter than you could ever dream of being!"
Petra was surprised by Leonie's outburst.
"What", Petra asked.
"My village is home to some of the greatest hunters in all of Fódlan", Leonie said, "and they can out-hunt anyone from Brigid any day!"
"Is that right", Petra asked.
"It sure is", Leonie said, "and I'm going to prove it."
"How", Petra asked.
"A contest", Leonie said, "you and me each go out and do our own hunting, and whoever hunts the most animals wins."
Petra was not happy about what Leonie had said about her people, so she decided to go along with her idea.
"Very well, I am accepting your challenge", Petra said, "and I will be proving that people of Brigid are strong hunters."
"We'll see about that", Leonie said, "may the best hunter win."
And with that, the two of them went on their way to begin their hunts, with Leonie feeling very confident in herself.
"I've got this in the bag", Leonie said, "once I'm done, Petra will finally see who the best hunter in the Golden Deer house really is."
Leonie moved stealthily through the woods in search of prey, trying not to make too much noise, and soon, she heard a rustling sound.
"That sounds like an animal", Leonie thought.
She followed the sound of the rustling and stopped in front of a bush.
"Okay", Leonie whispered, "let's see what we've got."
She peeked through the bushes and saw a rabbit in a clear area.
"That rabbit doesn't look like very much", Leonie whispered, "but I guess it's at least a good place to start."
Leonie took an arrow from her quiver and got ready to fire it with her bow, when she felt something on her arm.
"Huh", Leonie thought, "what's touching me?"
She looked at her arm to see what was touching her, and upon seeing what it was, her eyes widened in horror.
"S-S-Spider", Leonie whispered.
There, on Leonie's arm, was a large, black spider.
"Shoo", Leonie whispered, "get off of me!"
She tried blowing it off of her and moving her hand towards it to get rid of it, but it wouldn't budge, and in her effort trying to get rid of it, she ended up falling through the bush and scaring the rabbit she had been stalking away, much to her frustration.
"No", Leonie said.
She looked on her arm and saw that the spider was gone, then saw it on the ground and proceeded to step on it.
"That's for making me lose my prey", Leonie said.
She turned around and began walking through the woods once again.
"Guess I'd better keep looking for some other prey", Leonie said.
She walked along for a little while, continuing to keep quiet as she looked around for animals, and soon, she heard the sound of a twig snapping.
"Sounds like another animal", Leonie thought, "let's see what it is."
She quietly walked in the direction the snap had come from and peeked out from behind a tree, and she saw a deer eating some grass.
"Now we're talking", Leonie whispered, "that deer will make a great kill for the dining hall."
She looked around for a good place to shoot the deer from, and she spotted a ledge nearby.
"That looks a great spot", Leonie whispered.
Leonie made her way over to the ledge as quietly as she could, and once she was on top of it, she got ready with her bow.
"Okay", Leonie whispered, "here goes nothing..."
She readied herself with her bow and arrow and aimed it at the deer, but she found that her aiming wasn't very good.
"That doesn't look right", Leonie whispered.
She tried aiming at the deer again, but it still didn't seem right to her.
"No, that's not it either", Leonie whispered.
She continued to try and aim her bow in the right position so she could fire her arrow at the deer, but no matter where she aimed it, it wasn't in a position where she felt like she could hit the deer.
"Maybe I should try getting a little closer", Leonie thought.
Leonie took one step forward and checked her aim with her bow, and she found that it was better than before.
"Now this is more like it", Leonie whispered.
She moved more and more forwards to better her aim, but she was so focused on it that she didn't notice that she was getting closer to the edge of the ledge.
"Just a little closer", Leonie said.
Then, it happened: Leonie's foot slipped off the edge, and she fell off the ledge and onto the ground, frightening the deer and causing it to run away.
"Not again", Leonie said.
Leonie wasn't badly hurt, but she was frustrated that she had failed to kill an animal once again.
"This is the second time in a row something like this has happened", Leonie said, "usually I've bagged at least one kill by now, but I just can't seem to bag anything today."
Then, she noticed a field of tall grass nearby and got an idea.
"There might be some pheasants in that grass over there", Leonie said, "if there are, I could probably bag one or two of them."
So, Leonie made her way over to the grass and got ready with her bow and arrow.
"Now to flush them out", Leonie whispered.
She rustled the grass a bit with her foot to try and make the birds in the grass fly out, and she soon heard the sounds of wings flapping.
"Here they come", Leonie whispered.
A pair of pheasants came flying out of the grass, and Leonie got ready to fire at them, but as she was aiming at them, she noticed something that made her feel disappointed.
"Oh no", Leonie said, "they're hens!"
The two pheasants were indeed hens, which hunters were forbidden to kill, and as they flew away, Leonie let out a frustrated sigh.
"What is going on", Leonie asked, "why can't I kill a single animal?"
She put her arrow back in her quiver and walked away once again.
"I've got to step up my game if I want to prove how good of a hunter I am to Petra", Leonie said, "who knows how many animals she's killed by now?"
Elsewhere in the woods, Petra was standing against a tree looking through the sky for something that she was hoping would fly by.
"The should be arriving soon", Petra said, "this is the time of year when the geese are migrating for the season."
At that moment, a honking sound could from a while away, and Petra pulled an arrow out of her quiver and got ready with her bow.
"They are coming now", Petra said.
A flock of geese then flew by in a "V" formation, and Petra took a deep breath as she aimed her bow up at the flock, then released her arrow, which hit one of the geese and caused it to fall to the ground.
"Yes", Petra said, "I have done it!"
She then walked over to the dead goose, picked it up, and removed the arrow from it.
"I have successfully hunted another animal", Petra said.
She put the goose in a sack full of other animals she had killed during the hunt, then hoisted it over her shoulders.
"Now it is time for me to be moving on", Petra said.
As Petra walked through the woods with her bag of hunting kills, she noticed that the sun was starting to go down, and began to feel concerned for Leonie.
"It looks like it is starting to become late", Petra said, "I hope Leonie is doing well."
Meanwhile, Leonie was walking through the woods looking for prey, feeling more determined than ever to prove how good she was at hunting to Petra.
"I'll show Petra that I'm a skilled hunter if it's the last thing I do", Leonie said, "I just need to find the right animal."
She walked through the forest looking for any animals, when she noticed something that had caught her eye.
"Well would you look at that", Leonie whispered.
There, behind a fallen tree, was a wild boar.
"That hog looks like the perfect kill", Leonie whispered.
She took an arrow out of her quiver, then drew it back on her bow, ready to fire it at the boar.
"Here we go", Leonie whispered.
She took a deep breath as she focused on the boar, then released her arrow from her bow, but the boar had sensed her presence and ran away before the arrow could hit it.
"He's getting away", Leonie said.
Leonie, not wanting to lose her prey yet again, quickly ran after the boar.
"Oh no you don't", Leonie said, "no prey's getting away from me!"
She ran after the boar all over the woods, still intent on killing it.
"You can't escape me", Leonie said.
Leonie chased the boar into an area surrounded by trees, but stopped upon catching sight of something she found very frightening.
"Uh oh", Leonie said.
She turned around and began running away in the opposite direction from not only the boar she had been chasing, but also four other boars.
"I can handle one of those pigs", Leonie said, "but five is too much, even for me."
Leonie ran as fast as her legs could carry her, but the boars were catching up, and soon, she saw the end of the woods just up ahead.
"I gotta get out of here, or else those boars are gonna eat me for dinner", Leonie said.
But before Leonie could make it out of the forest, she tripped on a rock and fell on the ground, then held her knee, which was in pain.
"Ow", Leonie said, "my knee."
She looked ahead and saw the boars running straight towards her, and began to feel like it was over for her.
"Looks like this is the end of Leonie Pinelli", Leonie said.
But it wasn't, because right at that moment, one of the boars got hit with an arrow and dropped to the ground dead, which caused the others to stop in their tracks out of surprise, and Leonie looked behind her to see Petra with her bow and arrow.
"Petra", Leonie said, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm happy to see you."
The other four boards began running towards Petra to both attack her and avenge the one she had killed.
"No time for talk", Petra said, "I must hurry and defeat these wild swines."
Petra fired arrows at the boars with her bow one by one, and managed to kill three of them, but the fifth one was starting to get even closer to them.
"There's one more left", Leonie said.
"I will be killing it now", Petra said.
But when she reached into her quiver for an arrow, she found that there weren't any more left, as she had already used them all up.
"Oh my", Petra said, "I seem to be out of ammunition."
"What", Leonie asked.
Leonie looked and saw that the boar was almost at her.
"Please tell me you have something else you can use", Leonie said.
"Do not have worry", Petra said, "I am having just the thing."
Leonie looked at the boar and braced herself for its attack on her, but it never happened, because the bow got hit by something Petra had thrown at it and fell to the ground, and Leonie opened her eyes to see the dead boar in front of her, then looked back at Petra.
"It is done", Petra said.
She walked over to the boar and pulled a dagger, which she had thrown at it, out of its body.
"I am always carrying a dagger with me while hunting in case of emergency situations", Petra said, "that is something that was taught to me back home in Brigid."
"That's a pretty good lesson", Leonie said.
Petra held out her hand and helped Leonie back to her feet.
"Are you alright", Petra asked.
"Yeah, I think so", Leonie said, "my knee's hurt from when I tripped, but I can walk it off."
"Good", Petra said, "I would hate for you to be in pain."
"Thanks", Leonie said.
Petra began picking up the dead boars, and Leonie decided to say something to her.
"Hey, Petra", Leonie said.
"Yes, Leonie", Petra asked.
"Thanks for helping me out", Leonie said, "I'm sorry about what I said to you earlier."
"That is okay", Petra said, "I am accepting your apology."
"I was jealous of you because of how good you are at using a bow", Leonie said, "I wanted to prove that I'm just as good with it as you are, but I guess I let it go to my head."
"We all have moments of jealousy sometime", Petra said, "and we all go too far with it at times, too."
"But I was so determined to hunt more animals than you that I let it affect my hunting hunting skills and didn't kill a thing", Leonie said, "now we don't have very much meat to bring to the dining hall."
"I wouldn't be certain of that", Petra said.
She picked up her bag and showed its contents to Leonie, and the latter was amazed by how many animals she had managed to kill.
"Wow, Petra", Leonie said, "that's quite a haul."
"Thank you", Petra said, "and now we have five more animals that can be added to the bag."
Petra picked up the five boars she had killed and put them in the bag with all the other animals.
"Now, we must be returning to the Monastery", Petra said, "the sun will be setting soon."
"Sounds good to me", Leonie said, "let's go."
Back at the Monastery, Byleth was in the dining hall waiting for Petra and Leonie to get back from hunting, and was starting to feel a bit worried.
"Where are Petra and Leonie", Byleth asked, "they should have been back by now."
At last, the two students arrived and entered the dining hall, much to Byleth's relief.
"We're back", Leonie said.
"There you are", Byleth said, "thank goodness you're here."
"Here is what we managed to bring back", Petra said.
She set her sack down on a table for Byleth to look over, and as she looked at all the animals that were inside it, she was very impressed.
"Well done, you two", Byleth said, "you brought back quite a lot of meat for the dining hall."
"Thanks, but Petra deserves most of the credit", Leonie said, "she's one of the best hunters I've ever had the pleasure of knowing."
Leonie's comment made Petra feel very happy.
"Well, I'm happy to hear that you two managed to become friends", Byleth said, "now, if you'll excuse me, I need to take all this meat to be cleaned."
Byleth picked up the sack and carried it away, and Leonie decided to talk to Petra.
"Hey, Petra", Leonie said, "I just want you to know that I meant it when I said you're one of the best hunters I've ever known."
"Thank you", Petra said, "and I would like to tell you that I think you are hunter too."
"Really", Leonie asked, "thanks."
"I wish to know more of what you learned about hunting in the village you hail from", Petra said.
"Sure thing", Leonie said, "and maybe you could teach me some of the stuff you learned about hunting in Brigid."
"I would be happy to", Petra said.
So, Leonie and Petra, who were now good friends, sat down at a table and began exchanging all kinds of information about hunting from both of their birthplaces.