Author's Note: This chapter was pretty fun to write, being on the lighthearted side for this fic and having a little more post-war stuff mentioned. Not much else to say, other than I hope the break is fun to read, too.

Chapter Four: Hunting Party

Dimitri was amazed that they'd made it off the castle grounds, but he wouldn't complain about it.

He'd headed out to the stables with Dedue in tow, and all of the stable hands looked vaguely horrified at Dedue's new form. Dimitri glanced around coolly at them—silently daring them to speak up—but they'd swallowed, shook their heads, and led him to a horse. After getting saddled up and seated, Dimitri led the horse around, and it had promptly whinnied and reared at the sight of Dedue. In response, Dedue lashed out at it, perhaps startled at the noise or perhaps actually angry.

Of course, he hadn't had time to decide which it was, since the horse proceeded to bolt. It was a miracle Dimitri hadn't been thrown off, and he felt somewhat ridiculous as he clung to its neck for dear life. The horse finally settled down, but Dimitri's heart was still racing, and he could hear the shouts of the stable hands behind him in the distance.

Eventually, they'd caught up, put blinders on the horse, and tethered it to a nearby fence. Once Dimitri caught his breath, he carefully dismounted and walked back to find Dedue. He hadn't moved, but he growled at Dimitri in what was clearly annoyance.

"I'm sorry, Dedue," he said genuinely. "Would you still like to come with me? You may need to stay behind us, but I'd still like to take you out."

He held out his hand, much to the confusion and amusement of those around him. Dimitri chose to ignore their expressions, focused intently on Dedue. Finally, he seemed to realize it was a peace offering, and he'd awkwardly swung out his hand, not quite meeting Dimitri's and sending him stumbling.

Dimitri couldn't help being elated, though. The gesture was sweet in a way… And if Dedue was retaining and recognizing human reactions, he clearly wasn't entirely gone yet. So Dimitri righted himself, his smile so large it was almost embarrassing, and returned to his horse with Dedue in tow.

Finally, they arrived at a small forest not far from one side of the castle grounds. The horse still twitched nervously every now and then as Dedue's footsteps thumped heavily behind them. It hadn't reared again, though, which Dimitri took as a small victory. He eyed Dedue every now and then; trees cracked and occasionally fell as he collided with them. Well, if they took the same path every time, Dimitri supposed they wouldn't have to worry about causing too much damage, but…

Dedue suddenly paused, tilting his head up and sniffing the air. Then, he growled and charged ahead of them. The horse whinnied and reared up again, but Dimitri yanked hard on the reins and made it settle down. He carefully led it in the direction Dedue had run off in, hoping he could catch up with him soon.

…Dimitri almost wished he'd waited. Dedue had come across a deer, in the poor thing was shrieking and kicking as he tore into it. This had been Dimitri's idea, but it was a little terrible to watch.

He swallowed and glanced away, focusing his attention on his horse. There was something soothing about watching the way its ears stopped twitching as the noise finally died down. Eventually, Dimitri looked back up, forcing another smile. Dedue finished eating and glanced up again curiously.

Dimitri could only see part of his face from this angle, but there were a few messy bits of deer carcass on his mask. It disturbingly reminded him of the scene he and Mercedes had come across back at the Tailtean Plains, and Dimitri shook his head rapidly, trying to get it out of his mind. Dedue roughly wiped the mess away; well, at least he cared about his cleanliness somewhat.

Then, Dedue tore off again. Dimitri sighed and steered the horse around to follow. This had been his idea, and Dimitri supposed it was a good thing to see Dedue eager about something.

Still, after two more deer and a wolf, Dimitri silently admitted he was relieved to be heading back to the castle.

Dimitri was right: the hunting trip had done a good job of filling Dedue up for a while.

He came to check on Dedue between meetings with royal officials, noticing that the plates of food he'd been delivered remained mostly untouched. The most he'd done was move them around the room, perhaps in some odd attempt at amusing himself. But then, a few days later, Dimitri finally had the time to breathe for more than an hour or two. It was then that he'd found Dedue sniffing at a bowl of soup that was probably one of the first things he'd been given; it was covered in a heavy film, and there were flies buzzing around its surface.

"Dedue, would you like to go out again?" Dimitri suggested. "We'll go hunting. I'm sure you'll enjoy that more than your soup."

Dedue looked up, posture shifting into something more eager. Dimitri wasn't sure if he was happy to see him or was just excited about going outside, but he liked to think it was both. Either way, Dimitri headed down to the stables with Dedue stomping along beside him.

This time, the setup went more smoothly, if only due to knowing what to expect. The stable hands put blinders on Dimitri's selected horse before letting it out, while he had Dedue wait behind the stables. Finally, they set off, and Dimitri sighed in relief when they reached the edge of the woods.

The horse whinnied and almost reared when Dedue made his first detour, but Dimitri calmed it down quickly enough. This time, he briefly paused before following—honestly, it wasn't hard to figure out where Dedue had gone in such close quarters. He just had to follow the trail of damaged trees left in his wake.

Eventually, Dimitri found Dedue polishing off another wolf. There were a few small gashes on one of his arms; the wolf had clearly fought back before Dedue killed it. Dimitri paused as Dedue lumbered to his feet, an idea suddenly occurring to him.

"Dedue, would you like to have Mercedes check on you later? She's still here. Maybe she can fix that for you."

Dedue had started walking again, and he couldn't tell if he'd heard him. Nonetheless, Dimitri kept talking as he followed.

"She's asked about you a few times," Dimitri said, trying to sound casual. "I think she'd like to see you. Mercedes has helped me out at a couple of meetings; the last one had to do with how the Central Church is doing, and I think she really enjoyed that one."

More silence from Dedue, apart from few grunts between sniffing the air. It felt nice to be talking to him, though. Even if Dedue couldn't respond, Dimitri liked being able to review his latest happenings in a setting that was less…stifled.

"They've picked someone to fill the Archbishop role," Dimitri continued. "It's one of the old Cardinals, a man named Aaron. There's going to be a ceremony for the public at the end of the month, and they'd like me to attend. Duke Gloucester's son will, too; did you know they've been elected the new Roundtable leaders for the Alliance?"

More silence, though Dedue had briefly angled his head towards Dimitri during his remarks. It had only been for a few seconds, but he decided it meant he was paying attention.

"The Empire's still in disarray, but…now that things have calmed down a little, House Hrym has been talking about joining the Alliance again. I think that's going to go well this time around," Dimitri commented. "We've gotten word from House Hevring and the remnants of House Ochs, too. They're considering adding their territory to Faerghus, but—"

Before he could finish, Dedue growled and charged ahead of him, clearly set on a deer that had just passed them. Getting cut off was dispiriting, but…Dimitri kept his hopes up. He was sure Dedue could hear him, and he'd keep trying.

…He'd also make sure to call Mercedes in later, too. Maybe that would help even more.

"You know, Dedue," Mercedes said, standing on a stool so she could reach Dedue's arm, "you really need to take better care of yourself! Dimitri is worried about you."

"Ah, Mercedes—"

Dimitri smiled and shook his head. Well, she was telling the truth; it couldn't hurt to state it so plainly. Even if the wounds were little more than scratches relative to Dedue's size, he didn't want them to get any worse, nor did he want Dedue to get any more of them.

Dedue couldn't get too hurt, not before Dimitri figured out if he could change back. He didn't want anything to happen afterwards, either, but… Dimitri cast his eyes aside. Both options were bad, but the first one seemed worse, somehow.

Dimitri tried to focus instead on the way Mercedes carefully moved her hands across Dedue's massive arm and body. She was just as gentle as always, and faint pulses of light emanated from her hands as she cast the Heal spells. Surprisingly, Dedue remained still for the whole thing, but he let out an annoyed whine as the cuts began to seal up. Finally, Mercedes finished, and she laughed softly as she stepped down and moved the stool aside.

"All done," she announced. "You will be careful from now on, won't you?"

Dedue grunted in response, though the way his inflection changed almost made it sound like he was trying to form words. Dimitri stared at him, breath held, wondering if he'd just imagined that. However, a few seconds later, Dedue shifted back towards his window, once again watching the gardeners work in the courtyard below.

"Thank you, Mercedes," he said quietly. "I really do appreciate it. And I…I'm sure he hears you, somewhere in there…"

Mercedes smiled briefly. "I hope so, too, Dimitri. …You're welcome."

She left the room, and Dimitri glanced at Dedue one more time before he did as well. All things considered, this had gone well, and he hoped it stayed that way.

The third time they went on a hunt, Dedue was noticeably more careful than he'd been before.

He still barreled around everywhere they went; it was hard for him not to, at his current size. But Dedue paused for longer periods of time between choosing his prey, apparently weighing his options. This time, he didn't chase after a single wolf, either—only deer and a small family of rabbits.

Dimitri couldn't keep the excitement from rising in his chest now. Dedue was improving, he was sure of it, and Dimitri would very much take this as a good sign.