Author's edit: I tried to fix up this chapter, so hopefully its a lot more easier to make out certain things. If not please tell me and I'll try something else.
Forward
Homestar ran. With Marzipan in his grip and frozen wasteland farther than the eye could see, it was all he could do. Between the magic boost and his instincts he ran above the snow, barefooted and burdened.
Marzipan calmed after about an hour, over come by the determination the fairy wore. Her cheeks red with cold and... Something else. She clung tighter and for once just let herself throw her cautions and fears to the wind. Hopefully Homestar knew what he was doing.
The fairy was possessed, but this time by his own thoughts and feelings. While all Marzipan could hear was the scream of the icy wind pushing past the two, all Homestar could hear was the beating of his heart and the light tapping of the bare pads of his feet against the thick snow. Even if his hostage spoke to him he couldn't hear her. He didn't stop for three days.
Strong Bad glanced back the way he came. He was in the dragon lands, just like he planned, but there was no way he was going to go after the dragon king alone. Especially not after a lesser dragon nearly killed him. Of course, now that he was beginning to remember, it seemed like it was particularly Marzipan's fault he nearly died.
Maybe it was her plan, but for once he wasn't going to hold it against her. He chuckled to himself and shifted his belt before continuing on his way. He could barely blame Marzipan for being intimidated anyways, after all he was a whole lot of man. No, he was more than just another man, he was man with awesome skills and now hot dragon wings. A smirk formed on his lips.
Too bad there was no one around for him to flaunt this newly grown confidence. He suddenly felt a little homesick. He missed his The Cheat. And even his brother. His steps slowed.
"The Cheat..." Slowly he slipped the harness out from his belt loop. It shimmered in the sunlight. As he looked at it he eventually slowed to a stop. "I kinda really miss the little guy. I hope he's ok after everything that happened. I wonder if I wandered home, maybe I'd run into Homestar and Marzipan. Maybe they'd understand if we went west and visited my bro and The Cheat. I bet he went home after all..."
Something cracked behind the prince, making him jump as he turned to see what it was. Nothing. His eyes flashed back and forth, searching frantically. He felt something was watching him, or someone.
"Hello?"
Some birds screeched from above as they took flight from the trees. Then Strong Bad spotted it, a figure that just seemed to flicker into existence. The form was tall, wide, surrounded by a billowing cloak. The fire prince took a step back.
"Brother?" The figure grinned with both his pale lips and inverted eyes before he disappeared. Suddenly he appeared right in front of Strong Bad, his thick fingers curving around the fire prince's neck.
"Br-?"
Strong Sad chuckled. "Slay da' dragon, Priceless?" His voice quavered lowly.
Strong Bad's eyes widened. "Y-you're not my brother!" The ground faded from beneath his feet, darkness swirling out until it sucked up the trees, the animals, everything that surrounded them both. He struggled to back away from the figure posing as his brother, but he couldn't move. "Hh-!"
On the third day Homestar slowed. They had reached the Forest of Dreams in the evening, but found themselves surrounded by an eerie silence. As soon as they were going slow enough Marzipan stepped out Homestar's grip. The second her shoes touched the earth she gasped.
"Something... Something's not right..." She whispered, tiptoeing to a tree and gently placing a hand against it. For a moment she closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. "Do you feel it, Homestar?"
"Yeah." Homestar pressed his wings and antenna close to his body, his tail wrapping around his leg. His lip quivered. "What is it?"
"The forest is breaking down. The fairy magic that protects, its gone." She stepped back towards Homestar. "There's very little magic left here."
"Wight..." Homestar crossed his arms and did a small circle. "'Cept over thewe." He motioned southeast from their location.
"Hm?" Marzipan turned in that location. "What kind of magic do you feel that way Homestar? I don't feel anything."
Homestar shrugged. "Oh a little cold, a little dawkness, and just an eensey bit of fiwe-" He pinched his fingers together only to stop himself. "Fiwe?"
"Fire?"
Homestar smiled as brightly as he could. He couldn't help getting excited over the fact he thought they found Strong Bad. He scooped up Marzipan and, finding the energy, raced in the direction he felt his friend. She just clung to Homestar so he wouldn't drop her.
Head pounding, legs quivering, brain throbbing, Strong Bad stumbled to get up. His vision blurred in and out of focus as he thrusted himself towards a tree. It tried to breath, quickly getting breaths in and out to the point of hyperventilation. He just barely got to the tree before he slipped to the ground, his finger nails burying themselves in the bark like daggers. It felt like parts of his whole body was shrinking and growing, shrinking and growing, over and over.
"-Ong Ba-!"
"Stro- Ad-"
"Strong Bad!"
"Stwong Bad!"
He could hear the voices, but they didn't sound right, like someone had slowed them down and sped them up at the same time. He tried to turn in the direction of where those voices were coming from, but he couldn't tell what direction that was.
Homestar finally spotted Strong Bad, pressed against a tree, seemingly catching his breath. He hurried to his side, coming down and wedging himself under Strong Bad's chin for a snuggly hug.
"H-Huh?"
"Oh Stwong Bad!"
"Don't scare us like that!" He could barely make out the screech of the princess. "We thought you were dead.
"Ma..." Strong Bad chuckled lowly before brushing a cheek against Homestar's crystals. "Magi-m'n..."
A twinge of jealously ran up Marzipan's spine and down to her fists as she clenched them. Then she noticed something wasn't right, and the green fled her. "Homestar, be careful!" She rushed over, pulling Homestar back just in time to stop Strong Bad from biting down on the fairy's neck. Unfortunately his teeth managed to catch a bit of his jacket, tearing it a bit.
Homestar looked shocked a moment, unsure what just happened. Strong Bad licked over his unnaturally long teeth as he stood and reached for Homestar again, his eyes fading from Strong Bad's proper green to dark unfocused eyes that seemed so familiar. "A-a-a-am-u-let." He warbled.
Fire blasted over over fairy and druid, aimed at so disguised 'Strong Bad' figure, who disappeared in it.
"S-s-stay away fr-from them, Homsar..." Strong Bad's real voice shakily exclaimed. His vision continued to lose and gain focus as he stumbled out of the bushes and trees. He swallowed each breath like it froze the lining of his throat with each inhale, but his arms were engulfed with fire. A few more steps and the true fire prince fell to his knees, setting a bit of dirt, grass and dried leaves on fire as his fist drop to catch his fall.
"Stwong Bad!" Homestar chirped, happy to see his friend. The prince tried to look in the fairy's general direction, holding up a weak thumbs up before crashing hand and head downward again.
Marzipan inhaled sharply, letting go of Homestar and standing up to walk over to Strong Bad. "You moron! You idiot! You had us thinking you were dead, then you show up and lead Homsar straight for us! He wants to kill Homestar!"
"S-shut 'da crap up, Marz." Strong Bad managed to mutter at her before he pulled himself back up, opening his wings wide. She gasped at the sight of dragon wings. "Wa-wasn't it your fault too?"
"I-"
"Awesome!" Homestar interrupted, scrambling to his companions side and helping him up. "You can fly now? We can fly togethew and do loops and aiw westle and, and, and!-"
Strong Bad sighed, but just accepted the help, leaning against Homestar with his full weight. This earned him an eager hug from the fairy, followed by a pulling on one of his wings and a poking of the inner webbing.
"This is the coolest thing to happen to one of us since Mawzipan fixed my tail!"
Marzipan frowned, but turned her attention back to where Homsar was, disguised as Strong Bad non the less. She didn't know the displacer had the powers of shape shifting. It seemed more than a little unfair that he could control time, space, and the shape of his body. What stopped the little creep from appearing as giant dragon and eating Homestar, or just stopping time on them? She looked around again, not seeing anything wrong, though there was still an uncomfortable silence. The unsettling atmosphere was causing a growing fear that the displacer was just going to appear out of nowhere and get them all.
"Hey, Mawzipan." Homestar broke her attention and startled her. She turned sharply.
"What is it, Homestar? Now's not the time to waste anymore..."
"Uh, Mawzi, I think Stwong Bad need healin. I was talking to him and he, well..." Homestar held the fire prince up for Marzipan to see.
Strong Bad hung limply in Homestar arms, his head haphazardly lolling from back to forward as the fairy shifted him in his arms. "Maybe a little of youw magic touch will make him feel bettew?"
"Oh, yeah." Marzipan sighed and began to cast.
Eventually Strong Bad reopened his eyes, and smirked. "Aww, you do like me after all." He muttered to the still casting princess. "And here I thought you hated me, what with trying to kill me and hide it behind killing that dragon from before."
Marzipan looked away from Strong Bad, her fingers still weaving magic. "You sure have a funny way of showing your thanks, Strong Bad." She muttered back as the thick heel of her traveling boot slammed down on his foot, and she twisted her foot. "I wasn't trying to kill you, I just panicked. After all you were a monster being attacked by another monster..."
Strong Bad cringed, biting back a yelp of pain. "Cow."
"Demon."
"Guys?" Homestar pipped questioningly, still holding up Strong Bad. "What about me?"
Strong Bad chuckled, gently elbowing his human crutch. "Dork."
"Thanks!"
Marzipan finally finished healing and just rolled her eyes. She struggled to keep thre frown on her face, but a warm smile and endearing shake of her head managed to shine through. Finally she stepped back, returning to a serious expression. "We should get going guys. It would be best to keep moving and keep our guards up."