A/N: Thanks for all the feedback so far! I'm loving it! But the more the merrier.

"Let's find and kill those bastards." Dimitri hisses violently, his eyes clouded over in bloodlust. He tears the javelin from his arm, taking it in his uninjured arm as a weapon of choice. It seemed his already hard demeanor had become brutal. "We'll tear the flesh from their bones!"

Byleth nods in agreement but could not help but be disturbed by the sudden change in him. She had seen this side of him briefly when she saved him in the forest before but seeing it up close and personal was definitely a shock.

They both scan their surroundings more, keeping their eyes and ears open for any giveaways to the location of the enemy. The javelin had seemingly come from nowhere, and both were on high alert. Dimitri crouches in a rugged battle stance, reminding Byleth of a ravenous beast who was looking for his prey.

Suddenly, a twig snaps from the bushes nearby. This was their chance to encounter the enemy now that they had given away their location, so Byleth and Dimitri rush towards the bushes where the snap had come from. They push aside the leaves and find their assailants taking cover behind the undergrowth. There were around 8 of them, all dressed in armor with swords at their sides. It appeared they were either assassins or mercenaries hired to kill them. Their enemies notice their approach, and all charge into battle against them.

Although they were outnumbered, the skill of their enemies were no match for Dimitri's and Byleth's mastery of combat. But still, numbers are numbers, and this would be no easy battle. It seemed that their enemies were judging Byleth based on her small stature, and they were ganging up on Dimitri while only two men were going for Byleth. This was a mistake on their part, as Byleth was easily able to take on the two inexperienced fighters. They both charge at her head on, swinging their blade at her chest, but she dodges swiftly, darting around them and striking down the first man who had left his back wide open. The other man howls in anguish at the loss of his comrade and strikes at Byleth again. Byleth swings her sword back, and their blades clash. However, Byleth is stronger. She pushes forward, knocking him down onto the grass with her sheer strength. He screams in fear beneath her, and begins to beg for his life, but she slices at his neck, ending his pleas and his life instantaneously. Blood spurts from his neck, soiling the grass and her blade.

While all this was going on, Dimitri had been having trouble facing six enemies at once. He did his best to block and dodge all the incoming strikes. He performed well despite his dominant arm being injured, striking down two of the men quickly with his javelin after they charged for him. However, when the 4 men went for him at once, he had just avoided most of the attacks but the final attack he was not going to be able to avoid. Byleth had just finished off her enemies and she sees Dimitri's struggle and the incoming attack upon him, and she dives forward to push him out of harm's way, but she was not fast enough, and the blade pierces her midsection.

She gasps in pain as the blade enters her, and Dimitri screams in agony and anguish as he sees that she is injured. However, he knows he must first finish his foes before he can aid her. Rage fueling him more than ever before, he swiftly strikes down the man who had hurt Byleth and ends his enemies violently and without mercy. Once he has killed them, he rushes to Byleth's side. She was curled up on the grass, blood dripping from her abdomen. Although his arm hurt terribly and was still bleeding from when the javelin pierced it, he thought nothing of it and gently lifts her and carries her bridal style back to their tent for medical treatment. He cradles her to his chest as he does so, embracing her. Her wound seemed serious and his heart burned in guilt and agony at the situation. He wanted to protect her, but she had protected him instead. He never wanted her to be hurt. "Why would you protect someone like me... You are a fool. I cannot lose you."

Byleth had her eyes closed and Dimitri thought she had passed out from her wounds, but she opens her eyes slightly. "Not... a fool. You're important... to me. I did what I had to." She had trouble forming these words as her vision was cloudy and she felt like she was about to pass out, but she wanted him to know that he was important and that she wanted to protect him, and that he deserved to be protected. Those were her last thoughts before her consciousness left her and the blood loss and trauma caused her to pass out.

Dimitri's heart throbs and squeezes in pain when he sees Byleth's state and thinks of what she said to him. He knew he was a monster, but it made him feel so warm inside when she said he was important to her. It made him feel cared for, for the first time in a while. It was like his life had meaning and value again, for something other than revenge for his parents.

He reaches the tent, carrying her inside. Laying her upon the bed with great care not to injure her further or cause her more pain, he looks around for her bag of medical supplies. Although his medical knowledge was very limited, he knew the basics to treat a wound. He usually would ignore minor injuries while on the run from assassins, but whenever he had a major injury that needed treatment, he was able to take care of it in order to preserve his life or to prevent infection.

After finding the medical supply kit, he rushes through his work due to his stress and nerves at the situation, his hands trembling as he unravels a bandage and brings alcohol for the wound to her bedside.

Tears were clouding his vision the entire time, and he wipes them away so he can see to work on her wounds. In the back of his mind, he realizes that already, although they had only known each other for a few days, this woman had already become very important to him. For the last few years he had little to no contact with anyone, but he was too busy plotting his revenge or killing assassins and bandits to think of how his needs weren't being met, or to think of how he was completely broken inside and so very lonely. It was now clear how much he had needed someone in his life like Byleth, and it was so clear how much he had been craving closeness and a relationship with another. He lifts her shirt slightly to tend to her wound. It was a large gash, a few inches in length, and rather deep. He cleans off the excess blood, disinfects the area, and gently wraps a bandage around the wound. He breathes a sigh of relief as she is still breathing, no more blood flowing from the wound. Now that the wound was closed, it simply had to heal, hopefully without infection. It was a good thing they were close to their tent and supplies, or else she may had bled out if they had to travel too far to reach supplies.

The tension had been released from him as now he knew Byleth was going to be okay, and he now realizes that his body hurts terribly, both from the javelin wound in his arm and it felt like his other injuries had reopened again during the fight. It seemed he would be spending much more time with Byleth, now that they were both injured and would definitely be relying on each other. Although he felt terrible for her and was so upset she was hurt in the battle, staying longer with Byleth didn't sound too bad. It sounded amazing to him, in fact.

However, along with the pain returning to him, he also realizes he is terribly exhausted after the battle and the new wounds, and barely able to keep his eyes open. Although he knew Byleth would likely be upset with him if she knew he didn't bandage himself properly before sleeping, he felt that the wounds were not too terrible and did not matter, and the lure of sleep was much too strong for him to avoid. He barely makes it under the covers next to Byleth before slipping off to sleep.

However, his last thought before slipping into sleep was that he and Byleth should move their tent as soon as possible, as there was a possibility that more assassins could be on the way, since a group had already tried to attack them. If there were more, then they would be on their way. It would be safest to leave. He decides that one night of rest should be fine since they had just killed a group of them and it would take a long time for reinforcements, and he knew that he and Byleth were too wounded at the moment to move camp. He reluctantly lets sleep take him away, annoyed at his inability to keep going, still feeling that worry of more enemies in the back of his mind.

Later...

Hours have passed, and dawn breaks upon the horizon. Strange footsteps awake Byleth from her pitiful and painful sleep. The last thing she remembered was being carried by Dimitri after being wounded, and she was surprised to be in her bed. She assumes that Dimitri brought her back and treated her and feels reassured when she sees his sleeping form beside her. However, the issue of the footsteps. They seemed to be coming closer, it was clear whomever was walking did not care for stealth. It seemed to be a group of what sounded like three or four men. Her sleepiness gone, she is on high alert now. It was possible that it was reinforcements from the last group they fought. She leans over the bed, shaking Dimitri awake. He jolts up when she shakes him, his one eye wide and surprised, his other concealed by the bandage still. He sees the dangerous and cautious look in her eyes, and he knows something is amiss. He too hears the approaching group, and he swiftly climbs out of bed, readying his javelin. Byleth does the same, unsheathing her sword and preparing herself.

Dimitri curses himself internally, knowing he should have listened to his gut the night before no matter how tired and injured he was.

Three men approach the tent, axes in hand. They appear to be lowly assassins or bandits, much like the group from the night prior. There were less men than before, but Dimitri and Byleth were very injured. Both were not confident in this battle, but it was going to happen regardless. Dimitri's protective instincts kick in, and he doesn't want her injuring herself anymore, especially if it is for his sake. He charges forward with his weapon, catching one of the men off guard and slicing at his neck, ending his life. The other men kick into action, swinging their axes wildly at Dimitri. Byleth rushes to help, but it seems that Dimitri had everything figured out. He wrestles both men to the ground with inhuman strength and rage, and he begins to stab at them with his javelin. Both men seemed to die relatively quickly, but Dimitri still continued to stab at their bodies like he had been driven mad.

"I'll kill you! There will be nothing left but bone when I am done with you!" He continues to drive the blade into their bodies, over and over again. "Dogs of the disgusting queen! I will kill her like I killed you!"

Byleth watches for a moment in horror at his behavior, and she approaches him a bit fearful and taken aback. "Dimitri, stop this. They have already passed on." As he raised his arm for another strike against the corpses, she grabs it mid air to stop him. "We should leave this place before more like them approach us."

Dimitri does not look away from the bodies, and he shakes off Byleth's hand coldly. "It does not matter. I will tear apart any who come for us."

"Let us not sacrifice any more lives needlessly, we should move camps so we can recover in peace." She takes Dimitri's hand again, pulling him up from his sitting position and away from the bodies. She leads him towards the bed so they can have a moment of rest to assess how their injuries were doing and to plan their move. He sits on the bed, feeling lethargic now that he had snapped out of his murderous rage.

Suddenly, without warning, he crumples to the ground. Byleth is in shock at the sudden development and she crawls down beside him to see what was happening. He is laying on his side, his hands drawing up to cover his face. "Dimitri?" She questions quietly.

He murmurs things under his breath, so quiet that she cannot even hear. She leans forward to listen to him, although it appeared that he was not even aware of her presence.

"I promise I will bring you her cursed head. I will make sure you can rest in peace! Please don't abandon me! I will do everything in my power!"

Byleth realizes that he is having some sort of out of body episode or some sort of vision, she is not sure which. But he was talking to those who were not there, and he was ignoring Byleth completely, even when she placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Mother, father. Please do not look at me with scorn in your eyes. I will keep my promise. I am sorry that I am too weak. I will kill her. I will tear her apart." He begins to rock back and forth, shaking violently and running his hands back and forth through his hair in anguish.

"Dimitri, come back to me please." Byleth realizes that Dimitri was likely hearing the voices of his loved ones who were taken unfairly. She knew he had been through a terrible deal, and it was now clear that he was completely broken inside. Tears begin to well up in her eyes as she sees her friend going through such an ordeal. Although she struggled, she managed to grab his shoulders and pull him up from the laying position he was in so she could pry the hands off his face and look him in the eye. "Dimitri, please come back to me. I'm right here for you. I'll help you attain the revenge you seek. I'll help you recover. But first I need you here." She embraces him tightly, despite her wounds protesting it. She hoped that her pleas would not go unheard of and that she could help bring him from the darkness he was suspended in at the moment.

The shaking and trembling from Dimitri ceases, his sight returns, and the demanding voices fade. He returns her embrace, wrapping his arms around her so tight that she was sure there would be bruises later. But she didn't' care. "Byleth... Byleth..." He murmurs her name in distress. She rubs her hands in circles on his back in hopes to comfort him. "I am here. Do not worry." She whispers back to him.

Her heart splits in two at the sight of this broken man. She knew that he had terrible circumstances and his family was taken from him unfairly, but she never knew just how tortured and shattered he really was. With this new knowledge, she knew that she must stay by his side.