Sylvia
walked through the camp like the calm centre of a storm – all around, men were forgetting
their tasks, dropping weapons and supplies to just stare at her as she passed
them by. Some even turned to follow behind her, seemingly unaware of what they
were doing. In her wake, a stunned silence spread through the ranks of the
Hawks.
Sylvia herself didn't seem to realise the effect she was having on the men. She was happily prancing along, gazing curiously left and right and occasionally tossing off a cheerful wave at someone.
Griffith pulled Judeau closer. "First things first," he murmured, keeping a watchful eye on the stunning woman in front of them. "I must attend to various business, so I leave Lady Sylvia in your care. Get her some proper clothing – ask Caska, she might have something – make sure that she has everything she needs, and make sure that she is safe."
"Ah… Yes, Sir. Got it."
Griffith turned around and nearly walked into one of Sylvia's almost-hypnotised followers. With a slightly annoyed huff, he slapped his white hands together and the surrounding Hawks immediately snapped out of their daze, threw off a quick salute towards Griffith and hurriedly returned to whatever they had been doing earlier. Giving Sylvia one of his most radiant smiles, Griffith bowed to her.
"If you will pardon me, Lady Sylvia, there are many matters that must be taken care of when an army sets up camp, most of all for its commander. I will return to you this evening, when everything has settled down… until then, I leave you in the able hands of Judeau, my scout commander, here. He will show you around, I'm sure."
"Okay," Sylvia chirped with a bright smile, waving a small, delicate hand. "Have fun! And thanks again for saving me!"
When Griffith left, Sylvia quickly snuck her arm in under Judeau's and looked up at him with eager anticipation.
"So, you're going to show me the camp? Please, tell me about this place and where it is… Like, what the cities around here are called and stuff. I want to try to figure out just how far I am from home."
"Um… yeah, sure. First, though, we'll get you something a little more… whole… to wear – then I can show you around. This way, Lady Sylvia."
The golden-haired woman looked down on herself and actually blushed slightly, walking timidly next to Judeau for a while, saying nothing. Finally, the silence started to feel awkward, so Judeau decided to try a little conversation.
"So… you wanted to know about cities around here, did you?"
Sylvia looked up at him again and nodded. "Oh – yes, please."
Judeau started to list the larger cities of Midland, beginning with the surrounding area and going outwards. When he had gotten almost to the border, Sylvia was looking so miserable that he had to stop and let out a disconcerted sigh.
"Nothing sounds familiar, does it?"
She shook her head sadly. Judeau thoughtfully scratched the back of his neck.
"This country is called Midland," he tried carefully, "And the neighbouring one is called…"
"…Tudor!" Sylvia looked up at him with a rather stunned look on her face. "Midland and Tudor… that's it, isn't it?" When he nodded, she looked away again and stroked her smooth jawline in contemplation. "Tudor and Midland… so they're real, after all."
Judeau blinked. "Sorry?"
"Oh, nothing!" Sylvia gave him a smile so bright that it almost made him forget himself. "I just know where I am, now."
"Oh," he replied weakly. "Right. Good. Um. So, how far from home are you, then?"
"Errr… quite far." She nodded to herself. "Quite far."
Still not too certain about Sylvia's sanity, Judeau just gave her a confused look and found nothing more to say. But the thoughtful silence between them was soon broken by a very young voice from behind:
"Judeau! Pippin says that he can put your tent up, if you just say where you want it…"
The boy, Rickert, fell silent when Judeau and Sylvia turned around to face him, and just stared at the gorgeous, barely covered woman. Sylvia clasped her hands together and smiled most brilliantly.
"Oh, so cute! This must be your little brother, Judeau!" She bent forward, coming eye-to-eye with the young boy. "Hi there, I'm Sylvia. What's your name, little one?"
Rickert could not tear his eyes away from the very feminine and quite revealed bosom, hanging almost at his eye level.
"Um… um… um… um…"
Judeau cleared his throat, hoping to startle Rickert out of his daze before Sylvia took offence.
"That's Rickert, our youngest member… and we're not brothers…"
"Huh?" Not straightening up, Sylvia cast a surprised glance up at Judeau. "Are you sure? 'Cause you two look really alike…" She turned back to the still helplessly staring boy and pinched his cheek – which immediately blushed bright red. "You're the youngest member? And still a soldier and everything? That is so adorable!"
"…Um… um… um…"
"Ah, yeah, no, not related. At all. Rickert…" Judeau desperately tried to gain the young boy's attention. "…You can tell Pippin to put my tent somewhere around the other officers', Okay?"
"…Um… um… um…"
"But you've got the same eyes, the same hair…" She briefly straightened up and – to the scout's great surprise – pinched Judeau's nose lightly. "…The same cute little nose!"
Completely caught off guard, Judeau just blinked and felt his own cheeks grow warmer for a moment. "Um…"
Sylvia's smile widened. "Even the same cute way of saying 'um'!" Then she bent down again, put her arms around Rickert and hugged him tightly. "Oh, you are just too adorable!"
The situation was only getting more and more absurd the longer he stayed in Sylvia's company, and Judeau finally dealt with it the best way he could: He relaxed and laughed softly, shaking his head. This woman sure had a knack for doing the unexpected, so why try to expect anything?
When Sylvia released Rickert, Judeau took the boy by the shoulder and finally gained eye contact – though the look in those eyes seemed to be coming from some very faraway place.
"Rickert," Judeau calmly said to the beet-red boy, "Did you hear what I said about the tent?"
Rickert's expression became confused and a little troubled as the boy made an apparent effort to speak.
"…B-breasts…"
Judeau quickly clamped his hand over Rickert's mouth and sent Sylvia a quick but strained smile of apology.
"Ah-hah… 'Scuse us for a second…" He bent down and held Rickert's red face closely to his own, making sure that the boy seemed to be paying attention before he spoke: "Rickert, tell Pippin to put my tent near the other officers', got it? And be sure to say thanks for me. Okay?"
Rickert nodded, and Judeau sent him off with a friendly pat on the shoulder. Then he took a gentle hold of Sylvia's elbow and led her onwards into the camp. She cocked her head to the side and sent him a curious glance.
"Are you sure you're not related to that sweet little boy? I mean… you are just so alike, it's scary." She then gave a very small gasp and leaned away from him. "Don't tell me… he's your son?"
"What? No! Lady Sylvia, please, do I look that old to you?"
"Uh… I don't know…? I've never really been told how old humans have to be to be able to breed…"
"Huma…?" That's right; she's a 'half-demon', Judeau thought, stopping himself from completing that question.
A sudden, sharp gasp tore his attention back to Sylvia, and only through a quick, instinctive manoeuvre did he manage to grab her by the arm before she could run away into the crowd.
"Lady Sylvia? Where are you going?"
Sylvia stopped when he grabbed her, but was almost bouncing with eagerness and staring off in between the tents.
"That man! He was so hot! Oh my gosh, who is he? Who is he?!"
Judeau threw a bewildered look over her shoulder.
"Who?The redhead?The blond?The one with the scar?Or the beard?"
"Nooo," Sylvia whined, "The one who just disappeared behind that tent, over there… Ohhh…!"
"I'm… sorry, Lady Sylvia, I… have no idea who you're talking about."
Sylvia pouted cutely and sighed. "Oh well… I guess I'll see him again, since I'm staying here with you guys for a while. But when I do, you just gotta introduce me!"
"Yeah, sure." Judeau said, nodding agreeably. "Now, this way, just a few more tents…"
"Tents," Sylvia said, frowning, as she turned fully back to him. "Why do you live out here in tents, anyway? I mean, I know you're an army and all, but is there a war going on, like, right now, or what?"
Judeau blinked and frowned.
"Er… yeah… for about the last hundred years or so…"
"Really?" Sylvia cutely cocked her head to the side again. "That short, eh? So, you're just getting started, then. I see."
"Huh," Judeau grunted, again reminded that this woman was not entirely sane. Sylvia's eyes took on a sudden, excited sparkle.
"Oh, say, do you need any help? I can fight! I can fight real good! And I am so tired of being daddy's little princess and just sit on my bu… er… behind… while everyone else is out in the action, having fun."
"Uh-huh…" Judeau tried not to sound too sceptical. "You'll have to take that with Griffith, I can't give you authorisation to fight with us. I wouldn't necessarily call war 'fun' in any way, though…"
"Okay, I'll talk to him," Sylvia chirped, then looked as though struck by a sudden thought. "By the way, who are you fighting?"
"Tudor."
She looked adorably puzzled for a moment. "The country?"
He had to smile. "No, Lady Sylvia. I'm sorry, I meant the knights and armies of Tudor."
"Ohh," she laughed, "Of course you did, how silly of me… so, you're fighting other humans, is that it?"
"Yes." He couldn't keep himself from adding: "What else, Lady Sylvia? Cats or horses?"
To his surprise, she actually shuddered and shrank away a little.
"Yes," She mumbled. "'Specially if they were demon cats or… eugh…"
Judeau gave up on trying to comprehend the beautiful but obviously confused woman – it was beginning to give him a headache.
"Ah, here we are!" he said, pulling aside the opening flap of Caska's tent – and quickly pulled it closed again.
"Judeau!" An enraged female voice shouted from inside the tent. "I thought you of all people would remember to announce yourself before just barging into my tent!"
"Yes," Judeau answered, knowing full well that a most embarrassing blush had spread over his face and carefully avoiding eye contact with Sylvia. "I know. I'm really sorry, I was preoccupied."
"With what?"
"There's someone out here that I was going to introduce to you. We were… talking." Or more like she was talking, he thought, and I was being confused and didn't think and …you weren't wearing a shirt….
Sylvia's long, reddish-golden curls slowly came into view. He glanced over at her and saw a cunning little smile on her rose-coloured lips.
"You like her," she said, very quietly. "Don't you?"
He looked away from her and back at the closed tent flap in front of him. "Are you decent yet, Caska?"
"Yes," she growled from inside the tent. "Come on in."
Judeau held the flap open for Sylvia and then followed her, hoping to high heaven that he wasn't still blushing – too obviously. Caska had a tunic on now and was drying her hair as they came in, her back turned to them. When she turned around to face them, Judeau shrank back just a little at the dark scowl she sent him, before turning her attention on Sylvia.
"Who is…?" She began, but Sylvia cheerfully interrupted:
"Wow, what a cosy little tent! Did you decorate it yourself?"
Caska threw a quick, confused glance around the very sparse interior of the tent. There was her bed, her chest for personal affects, a table and a chair.
"Er… what?"
"Caska," Judeau smoothly interjected, "allow me to introduce Lady Sylvia. Lady Sylvia, this is our second-in-command, commander Caska."
"So pleased to meet you!" Sylvia chirped, grabbing Caska's hand as if to shake it, but before the dark woman had a chance to react, Sylvia had pulled her in close. Startled, Caska found herself gazing into worried, odd-coloured eyes. There was a desperate edge to Sylvia's voice as she whispered:
"Please tell me you're a real woman!"
Judeau was trying to signal something behind the beautiful woman's back, but Caska ignored him, blinking at Sylvia.
"…Yes…?"
Relief flooded Sylvia's features and she released Caska again with a bright smile.
"Whew, I'm so glad… didn't want to make that same mistake again… So, you're the second-in-command, eh? That's cool!"
"Hm… yeah… I guess…"
Judeau stepped up next to Sylvia and interfered again:
"We found Lady Sylvia down by the river, she's somehow gotten very far from home and Griffith thought it best if she stayed with us, at least until we've figured out where she belongs. And… she needs some new clothes… as you can see."
Caska looked up at Judeau in surprise.
"She's staying with us?" Then she looked back at Sylvia with a slight, thoughtful frown on her face. "Griffith said so, huh?"
Sylvia nodded cheerfully.
"Uh-huh, isn't that awfully nice of him?"
Caska quickly glanced Sylvia up and down, and her expression darkened just a little. I can see why…, she thought, but then she shrugged and heaved a small sigh.
"Clothes, yeah, I think I have something that would fit you."
Sylvia bounced happily and clapped her hands – and Judeau carefully averted his eyes – as Caska resignedly bent down to rummage through her clothes.
"By the way, Caska," Sylvia said, "I just love what you've done to your hair! I mean, how do you get it so… short? It's beautiful!"
Caska paused and looked up at Sylvia in confusion. "What? I… cut it. Off."
"Really? With what? How does it not grow right back out again?"
Caska blinked.
"What are you talking about?"
Sylvia pulled one of her silky locks over her shoulder and fingered it nervously.
"I mean, I've tried everything. You know, sometimes a girl just wants a change… but it just grows right back out again. Always." She heaved a small, heartbreaking sigh. "Oh well. I guess it's different with human hair."
"Human… what?"
The two women blinked in confusion at each other for a moment, then Sylvia smiled radiantly and batted it away with an easy gesture.
"Nevermind. You look gorgeous, it really suits you. Have you found anything?"
Judeau was trying to get her attention again, but Caska was still miffed at him, so she pretended not to see it. She pulled out one of her spare tunics from the chest and held it up for Sylvia.
"Right. Thanks. Here, I think this'll fit nicely…"
"Okay," Sylvia chirped and pulled off the remains of her top.
"Whoa!" Judeau spun on the spot and quickly made his way out of the tent. "Okay, okay, I'm out. I'm gone. I'm sorry."
Sylvia threw a glance after the retreating man and turned to Caska in puzzlement.
"What was that about?"
Caska just gaped at the half-naked woman in astonishment.
"What's the matter with you, have you no shame? You don't get nak- undressed in front of a man!"
"Why not? He's a nice guy… and a fellow warrior, just like me."
"But… he's a man!"
Sylvia nodded, still confused.
"Yeah, I noticed. Cute, too. So what?"
"So what? But he's… but you don't… It's not appropriate!"
Sylvia tilted her head to the side.
"Oh… okay, I didn't know that. It's a custom, I understand."
Caska blinked again.
"Custom…?" Then she shook her head and heaved an exasperated sigh. "Just get dressed and get out of here."
"Okay."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ To be continued…
Pearlyblue:
So, yeah, that's it for now. Updates are a little slow since we're not together
all the time *under her breath* …thank god… *normal voice * But we DO have a
lot of fun writing this thing, so don't worry that it'll go away. And why am I
saying this? Because, my friends, we have actually gotten REVIEWS! And POSITIVE
ones, at that!
Ladybug: Oooh,
reviews! Whee! We got reviews! Ladybug is so happy! Happyhappyhappyhappy… Pearl, what's a review?
Wakko:
So… that means that… there are actually people in the Berserk fandom who don't
mind parodies. Hm. I don't know if I should be disappointed or not…
Pearlyblue:
Disappointed? Why would you be disappointed? We're ENTERTAINING!
Ladybug:
What's a review?! Peeeaaarl!!
Wakko:
Yeah… but we're not… y'know… shocking. It would be
fun to mock people who'd go: "How dare you try to make fun of such a serious
series" or something.
Ladybug: Pearl?! Pearl?! Hel-looo!
Ohh… *pouts*
Pearlyblue:
Well, I for one am happy that there are individuals with a sense of humour in
this fandom, too.
Ladybug:
But why won't anyone tell Ladybug what a review is? Hello?! *gasps* Is it… kinky?!
Wakko:
*grins* Why, yeah, they are.
Pearlyblue:
Oh shut up, they're not! They're just a way for people to tell us what they
think about our story, that's all. NOT kinky.
Wakko:
*sulkily * Well, they COULD be.
Pearlyblue:
Didn't I tell you to shut up?
Wakko:
*sticks tongue out at Pearlyblue*
Ladybug:
So… positive… reviews… that means they… LIKE US? Whee-hoo!! *dances and bounces* They
like us, they like us, they like us…
Pearlyblue:
*sweatdrops* Okay, yeah… glad we cleared that up… so,
anyway, please keep reviewing – and The Weird Ones especially wishes to thank
Emily, Liz, midnightinthegarden, Niclas
and Multi-Facets for their lovely comments.
Wakko: I
want more naked in this story.
Ladybug:
Ladybug wants more happy reviews!
Pearlyblue:
I want to get out of here…
Ladybug:
*trailing after Pearlyblue* Ooh, where are you going?
Can I come too? Pleeeeease….
Wakko:
*looks left, looks right… snatches all the handsome men in the Hawks' camp and
runs offstage* Muahahahahaaa...!
