Thinner Grounds
Neither Homestar nor Strong Bad noticed the dragon behind them as it lifted its giant scaly head and opened it wide mouth. It licked its leathery lips before bringing them down towards Strong Bad. As he loomed closer the prince finally noticed the shadow and slowly turned to see an open mouth full of yellowing jagged teeth and a saliva dripping snaky tongue. The scream rose out of him in an instant, but Strong Bad was frozen at the sight.
Homestar turned and gasped at the sight. His best friend was about to be eaten by a dragon. He reached out for him. "Stwong Bad!" The fairy screamed out as loudly as his little voice could.
"Oh crap." The prince managed to meep before he shut his eyes tight and tensing as he accepted his fate. But death didn't come, and the bladed teeth didn't cut him in half. Reluctantly Strong Bad opened his eyes again. He froze at the sight of inside of the dragon's mouth, but its thick foamy saliva was running down around him.
Something shimmered in front of him, and reaching out Strong Bad found he was surrounded by a semi invisible barrier. He breathed a sigh of relief.
The confused dragon finally pulled back after trying a few angles to get its prey. It growled down at the barrier before roaring an earth shaking cry. Then it tried to bite down again, but something slapped it across the face, making the massive beast reel back can roar out again. Strong Bad looked around for whatever source had hit the dragon. He finally notice the few trees around them were dancing against a blast of wind, an a tiny ball of light in the sky seemed to be control said blast.
He watched in awe as Homestar seemed to be fighting the dragon off single handedly.
Hit after hit the dragon seemed confused as it was being slapped around, until it finally spotted the tiny fairy in the sky.
"What are you doing, little one?" The dragon hissed out in a low and loud voice. "Why are you defending thiss creature? He iss our enemy, and we are supposse to be alliess."
"I'm not goin ta let you eat my best fwiend!" Homestar called out at the top of his little lungs, as loudly as he could despite already quite tired from all the magic casting. The dragon's dark beady eyes cast down to Strong Bad and it sneered.
Homestar saw the look on the dragons features and blasted it again. The dragon turned its attention back to the little fairy.
"Thiss meal issn't worth your friendsship, dream child. All creaturess like him are only out to decieve and desstroy."
Homestar shook his little head. "Stwong Bad is the gweatest man and fwiend anyone has evew had! He's mowe a fwiend to me than any dwagon, or any of my family!"
Strong Bad listened to the fairy defending him from behind the barrier, and for once in a long time he actually felt a little guilty. This fairy innocently thought the world of him, and he was planning to do exactly what the dragon was trying to warn the fairy of. He sighed and leaned against the barrier, his eyes falling to the ground. He suddenly wasn't so sure he could go through with killing the little guy.
The dragon reared its head at the sound of the wicked prince's name. "Fairy! Thiss creature iss the wicked prince! If you continue to put your trusst in him you will be the death of uss all!"
With that the dragon took to the air and shot towards Homestar its mouth filling with fire before it opened wide and breathed towards the fairy. Scared out of his mind Homestar dropped his guard and stopped breathing, flying, petrified from the glow of burning death coming at him.
Strong Bad fell forward as the barrier disappeared. His head shot up at the sight of the dragon's fire engulfing the glow of his fairy. Something snapped within him and jumping to his feet the prince ran towards the mighty beast. "HOMESTAR!"
With one hand Strong Bad called the dragon's fire to him, absorbing its energy. With his other hand, and with a rage filled intensity he shot a pillar of whitish blue flames at the creature's underbelly. The dragon was quickly engulfed by the inferno, but otherwise it didn't harm his fire proof hide. The dragon made a quick escape, startled by the tiny man's intensity.
Homestar just began to fall.
Strong Bad continued to run until he was under the falling fairy, then jumped and caught him. His legs gave up under him and both fell into the dried yellow grass below. Strong Bad swallowed each desperately needed breath before turning his head to little humanoid halfway on his hand. He found himself genuinely smiling for the first time in a long time.
"You... You saved my life back there." He breathed out softly, rolling onto his side and reaching over to scoop up the brave little fairy.
Homestar was looking a little pink all over his exposed skin, and his red tunic was tattered from the battle, but he slowly scrambled up Strong Bad's thumb into a standing position, also catching his breath. The prince brought the hand close and as the fairy gave him a satisfied half smile.
"You did the same for me, Stwo-bwo. If you hadn't shot fiwe at the dwagon I would hawve been a victim of bug in the mouth disease...."
"Crispy bug in the mouth disease..." Strong Bad chuckled before rolling onto his stomach and placing a finger on the fairy's soft white hair and antenea. "But if you hadn't put that barrier around me and fought the dragon off with wind I wouldn't have been around to blast it."
They were silent a moment, just continuing to catch thier breaths and smile at each other.
"Thanks man." They finally both said at the same time, then burst into laughter.
When the laughter finally slowed back to their heavy breathing Homestar stepped down and walked a little ways from Strong Bad. The prince rolled onto his back and closed his eyes as the rush of the battle slowly left him.
Homestar waited until Strong Bad seemed completely relaxed. Then he gently fluttered up and landed on the prince's chest. He began look look for any injuries on his friend. It tickled to feel the little bare feet walk down his chest and down onto his stomach.
"What in the world are you doin, Dorkstar?" Strong Bad managed between holding back his tickle induced snickers. The fairy peeked his head up over his pectoral ridge.
"Just makin suwe you didn't get huwt, Stwong Bad." Homestar pipped as he walked up towards the prince's face and leaned against the fairy orb replicated broach. That made Strong Bad inhale as it was a sharp reminded of what he came all this way to do. The little guy didn't seem to notice what he was leaning on.
"I'm, uh, fine, Homestar. Not a scratch." Strong Bad quickly pointed out as he motioned for the fairy to go away. "Now stop walking all over me, it tickles."
This gave Homestar a mischievous idea. "Oh, it tickles, does it." He pivoted away from Strong Bad's face, biting his tongue for a second before lowing his wings and lowering himself. Suddenly he burst into a rabbit fast run, dashing all the way down the prince to his boot, then runnning back. He jumped, dodged, shifted his dash as Strong Bad began to try and stop him, laughing uncontrollably. He even managed to tickle the prince under the chin as he raced back and forth over his body.
"S-s-stop!" Strong Bad managed through his fit of laughter. He was barely able to breath, let alone keep laughing like this. Homestar finally stopped, balanced on the toe of his red boot.
"That was fun!" He chirped to his panting friend.
"F-for you may... Maybe." The prince finally muttered as he drank in the air around him. Slowly he sat up, glaring down to the little insect. "I should flick you or swat you, you little idiot. That was not cool. I nearly laughed to death!"
Homestar pouted, looking away. "I'm sowwy..." He closed his eyes and waited for his punishment, keeping his hands behind his back and his tail wrapped around his leg.
Finally Strong Bad sighed, his anger melted. He looked away. "I'm not going to swat you."
"Weally?" Homestar looked up with big shimmery eyes. He brought his hands foreward and tapped his fingers together shamefully "I didn't mean to huwt you, Stwong Bad, but it sounds like I kinda desewve it."
Strong Bad shrugged a little, getting a quick smile. "Hey its not like I actually want to hurt you, guy..." His words slowed as he realized with wide eyes what he had just blurted. He wasn't lying, it was officially. He didn't actually want to hurt the fairy anymore. Homestar may have been more than annoying, but he saved the prince's life just a short while ago. It actually made him sick to hit of cutting off the fairy's tail and killing him. He looked from the fairy to the dagger handle sitting in his boot, and swallowed.
Homestar didn't seem to notice, smiling so brightly his eyes were shut. "You'we my best fwiend, Stwong Bad. You'we the only pewson I hawve left to twust in this whole wowld." He sat down on the boot and sighed, looking down. "I use to hawve Pom Pom, he use to be my closest fwiend when we wewe kids."
"He's an ocean faiwy, fwom the land of Pom. He gave me this anklet." Homestar held up one of his legs to show off the braided gold and blue thread on his ankle. "He made it just befowe he was chosen to be the king of the ocean nymphs. I nevaw saw him again aftew that."
Strong thought deeply as he listened to Homestar story. Though he wasn't really thinking about the story itself so much as to why he needed the fairy tail amulet. It was to protect him from the dragon lord, Trogdor. But Homestar proved he could protect both of them as he was, alive. He finally sighed.
"Homestar... You are first person to ever truely trust me, even if I don't deserve it. You may be one of my only real friends in this world." He took a deep breath, trying to deny the deep emotions trying to seep out of him, and reached out towards the fairy. "If you promise to keep me safe, Homestar, I'll promise the same, ok?"
Homestar had a perplexed look on his face, and bit of blush on his cheeks as he stepped onto the outreached palm. "Of couwse, Stwong Bad. I pwomise to keep you pwotect you, like I'd pwotect any fwiend." Deep down something foreign seemed to whisper to him, that Strong Bad more important than even he was to himself. He didn't may the thought much mind. Instead he was too distracted from the look in Strong Bad massive emerald eyes. He stared back as his heart raced.
Strong Bad carefully brought the fairy close to his heart, and clasped his close with his other hand. It was the closest thing to a hug he could muster without breaking the little bug-boy. Homestar took a moment to figure out what was going on before he tried to wrap his arms around Strong Bad in turn. He pressed his cheek against the bare chest, hearing the pounding of the heart.
"I..." The fairy whispered, but actually wasn't sure what he was going to say, let alone what he was trying to think. Finally Strong Bad let him go and got up. He found a rock and put Homestar on it.
"I'm exhausted, but I think I'm more hungry." Strong Bad smirked as he pulled out his boot dagger. "Stay here, I'll go see if I can't find something for both of us to eat. No meat for you, right?"
Homestar nodded and watched as Strong Bad headed into the heavier part of the bush around him. Then he sat and got himself comfortable, waiting for his friend's return.