Fools
Part of Griffith's neo-Band of the Hawk surrounded Guts' small team. They weren't prepared for the army of man and demon to find them so quickly. They had barely even reached the walls of Falconia. Did Griffith really know they were coming? Schierke's magic was supposed to cover them.
"Guts, there looks to be lot of them." Serpico said without emotion, internally preparing himself for the fight.
"I know." Guts responded, taking count of each solider, man or otherwise, aiming their weapons at them. "Serpico, Schierke. We'll take on those demons. Everybody else, cut down those men."
"Are you sure you three can handle it?" Farnese asked with much concern for her comrades.
"No time for talking. Just fight besides Casca, Farnese. Let's go!" Guts commanded as everyone in his group charge the enemy.
Out of habit, Farnese put herself in front of Casca to protect her. However, that job she solely performed wasn't the same anymore.
"It's alright, Farnese. I can fight for myself now." Casca told her friend as she stepped up with her new sword in hand. "I may not be as strong as I was before, but I can still fight."
Suddenly, Farnese and Casca realized that three men were running towards them. Casca was quick to dodge the strikes and was able to bring down one of the men with ease. Farnese used her newly developed magic abilities to render the other men immobile.
"I just wouldn't be able to live with myself if you got hurt. After all we've done to help you recover." Farnese called out to Casca. "I know you're still trying to deal with not being able to-"
"Behind you!" Casca yelled out. A small demon had snuck up behind Farnese and threw itself at her. However, Casca was able to jump up and slice the little bug in half. "We can talk about all that later."
Farnese and Casca continued to fight together, along side the rest of their team as best they could. Schierke was holding off large demons for Guts and Serpico to attack. Isidro, Puck and Roderick were taking down man after man. Even though the party of misfits was out numbered, they kept fighting. They kept struggling.
The more Casca swung her sword around, the more her body remembered the feeling of running into battle. Muscle memory was coming back to her and the impressive skills that made her the Hawk's famed female commander were all but restored. But forgetting how to fight was never the real issue for her.
Guts.
She broke down in terror every time she looked at Guts and nothing she did could change that. It's not like she didn't want to see him. She really did, but she just...couldn't. After all this time, the memories were still too intense. So on their way to Falconia, Casca averted her gaze from Guts. The sound of his voice was the only thing she could stand. Guts sounded so tired. And it was because of her. All the time he spent protecting her made him tired and she could give him nothing in return.
Suddenly out of the corner of her eye, Casca saw a dark figure running through the mess of demons. The armor was hacking away at the new Hawks. Men were retreating and the last of the demons were being taken care of by Guts. There was a scramble and one of the demons hurled itself in her direction. Casca readied herself, but something happened.
"Casca, look out! He's out of control!" Isidro yelled at the top of his lungs, while holding onto Schierke's limp body.
The darkness of the armor darted around her.
She could feel the terror building up inside of her.
The smell of fresh blood filled the air.
The beast had taken full control.
She saw the red eyes of the mad dog staring her down. "Guts?"
She reached out.
"Guts. Please. Don't! Don't leave me."
There was a slash.
A sharp pain splitting through her.
Casca collapsed onto the ground. Her leg was bleeding out as she gasped in excruciating pain. She had been hit with the Dragon Slayer and survived. Farnese and Serpico ran towards Casca. Her vision began to blur.
The dark beast that wounded her was suddenly now struggling with its wearer. The large sword dropped out of Guts' hand and his arms began reaching up for the helmet. Slowly, Guts tried to pry the armor off of his body. Fighting against his beast of darkness for control completely by his own will. Pealing back the helmet, Guts' face emerged from the metal covered in blood.
"CASCA!" He tossed the helmet away and threw himself in front of her, wanting to help, but still having to fight against his own rage. "Casca!"
She tried to focus on the figure reaching out for her. "Guts?" She weakly lifted her hand. "Guts."
Casca just closed her eyes for a second. But when she was able to open them only slightly, she saw a blurry face that she knew to be Guts'.
"You...Guts, you...you're always bleeding...because of...me."
For some reason, she started to smile. Even though staring at Guts like this should have sent Casca into a debilitating panic attack, having her vision blurred somewhat meant she could actually look at him and not be reminded of that horrific event.
"Now...let me bleed for you...for a change."
She heard him start to cry. She thought the armor blocked any emotion besides rage and bloodlust.
"No." Guts' voice started to shake. "Not like this, you fool." He placed his metal hand on top of Casca's own.
"Fool." Casca whispered. "We're both...fools."