"C-Can't you just do it yourself?"

"It is important for all to know," Petra said as she dragged Bernadetta by the arm towards the entrance of the monastery. "The professor assigned us, so we must complete it."

"I don't want tooooo!" Bernadetta cried as she scrambled to get out of the girl's grasp, a bow having been forcibly strapped to her back.

Byleth had chosen the two of them to spend the day hunting for game until nightfall this week, and when Bernadetta had tried to run away, Petra had snagged her by the arm and pulled her all the way to the armory, gave her a wooden bow, and then was now dragging her out into the woods.

"It is important information, so don't resist," Petra said uselessly as Bernadetta kept pulling against her grasp.

"Jeez…are you really strong or am I just really weak?!" the small girl cried as she sagged to the ground, making it hard for Petra to drag her but not impossible.

"Both, I do think," Petra answered as they finally reached the grass. Knowing her uniform would get dirty if she continued, and not wanting to do laundry if she could help it, Bernadetta finally stood up and pulled as hard as she could. Surprisingly, she managed to dislodge herself from Petra's grasp, but as she made a break for it, Petra grabbed her by the skirt—the first thing she could grab—and as the garment was pulled enough almost to tear, Bernadetta froze as her cheeks flushed.

"Y-You wouldn't do something so embarrassing, would you…?" she asked, and Petra merely stared at her. Bernadetta whimpered, and not wanting to experience the potential embarrassment of her skirt being torn off, she started walking with Petra as the girl kept a tight grip on the garment.

"It is only for few hours, so it won't be bad," Petra told her. We are mostly hunting deer, but a bear would be fine."

"N-NO, A BEAR WOULD NOT BE FINE!" Bernadetta screamed, and Petra frowned.

"Why not? It is lot of meat, is it not?"

"I-I mean, it is, b-but…it's a bear!" Bernadetta whined, and Petra shook her head.

"We have weapons and have defeated bandits and creatures before. Not a big deal."

"A bear is different, goddess please just let me go baaaack!" Bernadetta whined even as they went further and further into the trees. The warm sun beat down on them even through the leaves above, and Bernadetta was feeling stuffy already.

"Look, just…try," Petra asked quietly as they stopped. She knelt and gestured for her companion to do the same. Bernadetta decided to be smart and do as she was told as they crept up to a bush and slowly made their way through it, the branches poking harshly at Bernadetta's exposed skin.

Eventually, they poked their heads out the other side, and Bernadetta could see a lone deer eating from a bush a ways away, enough that it likely wouldn't be able to hear them easily, but it also would be harder to aim.

"Do we go closer?" Petra asked, less experienced with a bow than Bernadetta was. To her own surprise, Bernadetta's panic was almost completely gone as she thought it over. She wasn't bad with a bow, but could she really hit a kill shot from this distance?

She wasn't smart enough to do any math, so as her lack of self-confidence won out, she simply took a quiet, but shaky, breath and crept out from the bush, trying to be as quiet as possible. Whenever the deer seemed to pause, she paused as well, slowly making her way to a thick tree that was a little closer. Bernadetta was small enough to hide her body behind it and look around to stare at the deer. She doubted it would stay long and knew she had to take the shot.

She removed the bow from her back and grabbed an arrow, sliding it against the taut string and pulling back. She tried to steady her breathing as she stared at the animal, aiming carefully, or at least as much as she could with her light trembling. She wasn't close enough for a guaranteed kill shot, but she could at least wound it, and perhaps they could knock it down from there.

She took a single breath before finally releasing the air. It whizzed through the air, slicing through the silence and colliding with the animal's hind leg. Immediately, it let out a sound of pain and tried to take off, to which both Petra and Bernadetta immediately began to give chase, the young girl's body moving before she even knew what she was doing.

They chased after the deer, which, while usually would've been able to outrun them rather easily, thanks to the wound on its leg, was moving slow enough that they could keep pace on it and were even gaining ground.

Once she got close enough, Petra let out a cry as she lunged for the animal, grabbing onto his behind as she tried to wrangle it down. To both girls' surprise, however, it kicked at her, and Petra flew back and off of it, straight towards Bernadetta. Petra collided with her and both went down to the ground.

The collision left Bernadetta stunned for several moments as she lay flat on her back on the hard ground, feeling dizzy. She shook her head a few times to clear her mind and blinked to try and fix her vision, her face slowly growing red at what she saw. Petra, lying on top of Bernadetta, pressed her arm down to raise herself up, only for Bernadetta to squeak, giving Petra pause. When both girls finally recovered, they both saw the situation they'd ended up in.

Their faces were inches apart, and the thing Petra had put her hand on to try and lift herself was Bernadetta's small chest. Petra stared down in shock at her companion for a while before she silently rolled over and got to her feet, brushing herself off before taking off after the wounded deer. Bernadetta simply lay on the ground for a moment, whimpering as she could feel the imprint of Petra's hand against her breast and the lingering warmth of her closeness.

Once Bernadetta could get herself up, she walked in the same direction Petra had gone, surprised to find her standing only a short distance away. When she saw the girl, her face burned, and she had to turn away, instead focusing her gaze on the animal.

It was laying against a tree, likely thrown off balance by Petra having grabbed it. The wound had gotten far worse, and Bernadetta almost felt bad for the animal as it lay there.

"It is almost dead. You should finish," Petra said.

"Wh-Why me?!"

"Teaching moment?" Petra offered, and Bernadetta whined. Nonetheless, she approached the animal and pulled out her bow. She tried not to look in its eyes as she pulled back the arrow, and finally turned her head away completely as she let it fly, putting the creature out of its misery.

"You did good job," Petra said as they hauled the animal back. It wouldn't be their job to skin it, much to Bernadetta's relief, but carrying the deceased animal while trying to keep its blood off of her was quite a task.

"Thank you," the young girl said as they walked. It was true that while she felt bad for the animal, she did feel somewhat proud of herself for the kill, even if she hadn't been able to make it one and done. She allowed herself to smile as she imagined the professor and/or Edelgard praising her for her good job.

"Hopefully, you will end many more beasts in the future!" Petra declared confidently, and Bernadetta's sense of pride was immediately dashed as she not only worried about such a comment but was reminded that they had to do this for the rest of the day.

"Nnnnngggg…"