Work Text:
This is better, Dimitri thinks as he slices into another beast. Fighting these creatures is better than fighting Empire soldiers. The jeers of his dead friends and family aren’t as strong when he’s slaughtering animals of malice– they simply enjoy the show, and no word of that woman is uttered. It feels so good to kill without wondering who will give him a worrying look first at the battle’s conclusion. He’s almost glad Marianne is being beset by these creatures.
No. No he’s not. Dimitri freezes, watching blood drip from his lance as the beast before him twitches its last. He’s not happy one of his friends is being hunted. That would be horrible. Only a monster would find pleasure in Marianne’s peril.
There’s a sickly crunch behind him and Dimitri turns to find Hilda, her axe buried in the throat of a beast who had just taken a swipe at Dimitri’s back. The beast lets out a wet cry before slumping over. “Don’t do that!” Hilda scolds, wrenching out her axe and sprinting towards Dimitri. “We can barely see our own hands in front of our faces and you’re just standing here?!”
She made sense. Byleth and the others had charged into the fog in search of Marianne with only Hilda and Dimitri to cover the rear. Though the sounds of battle seem close, Dimitri hadn’t seen anyone besides Hilda for some time.
“Are you listening to me?” Hilda snaps. Dimitri flicks blood from his lance and doesn’t respond. Explaining his thoughts will make things worse. Hiking her axe over her shoulder, Hilda looks around. “I think that was the last of them anyway. We should have stuck closer to the group.” There’s a helplessness to her voice Dimitri doesn’t appreciate.
“They will be fine,” he says gruffly.
“But Marianne was all alone out there. Who knows if the others made it in time? Marianne might…”
The image of Marianne broken under the paw of a demonic beast, alone and lost in the fog and forest, causes a cold shudder to run through Dimitri. Hilda mumbles, “There’s no way to fix this now,” and that is the last straw.
Securing his lance over his back, Dimitri scoops Hilda in one arm– ignoring her yelp of surprise– and begins running. It doesn’t take long for Hilda to wrap her arms around his neck and duck her head into his shoulder, bracing herself against the whip of tree branches as they race deep into the forest. Dimitri frowns and holds up his free hand to block the worst of the branches. It earns him a worn smile of gratitude from Hilda.
They come across signs of battle. Shortly after, they come upon the backside of an enormous beast that takes up most of the clearing. Its tail lashes this way and that violently, like a cat that has cornered prey. Hilda lets go of Dimitri and he allows her to slip to the ground. A spot of blue across the clearing makes Dimitri tense. “I see her,” he says in a near whisper.
Hilda tightens her grip on her axe. “Ready.”
“As one, then.”
There is no point in discussing a plan– they both have only one goal in mind. Protect Marianne.
They charge under it. Dimitri aims his lance upward to rake at the underside of the beast. Hilda swings her axe expertly and takes digs at its legs. The beast howls and stamps, but Hilda is too quick to be hit and Dimitri bats away whatever gets too close.
Splattered with the beast’s blood, panting, the pair make it to Marianne’s side. Though she is battered, she is standing. Marianne stares with wide eyes as they flank her– Hilda on her right and Dimitri on her left. “You’re here,” Dimitri hears her say in a mystified sort of way.
He keeps his eyes on what must be the Wandering Beast, but nods. Hilda snorts. “We would’ve been here from the start if you hadn’t run ahead!”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“Apologies will not help us win,” Dimitri barrates. He points his lance at the Wandering Beast, who gives a roar as if to accept their challenge.
He hears the crackle of Marianne’s magic, hears Hilda say, “Let’s do this!”
Then the three of them run at the Wandering Beast.