Chapter Text
“Be careful! The knights are more active lately!” was the last thing the witch yelled at him this morning when the fairies encouraged him out for another experimental play session. Normally she just shouts to be home in time for dinner, don’t be late, or to tell her what I learned how to do today. ‘I should have listened,’ was the thought going through my mind as a small group of knights surrounded the field the fairies and I were playing in.
“Bal?” one of the fairies asked looking up at him.
“Come with us. You wouldn’t want your little friends to get hurt,” one of the knights said as he came closer to the trio.
‘Fairies are great on the market. I hear you can make a lot of money. Some just get used for bits,’ were all comments Bal heard. A growl escaped him before he realized.
“Now, now. We wouldn’t want to have to neutralize you and that sexy witch. She lives near by right?” the knight taunted.
The fairies jumped off Bal right before he lunged at the knight. “Bal!”
“Go! Get to her!” he screamed at the fairies.
One grabbed the other’s hand, “Right!”
A light trail was all that was left as the pair shot off into the woods. Some bobbing and weaving to evade knight hands turned into dodging tree branches and leaves as they hurried faster then ever back to the witch’s house.
Ever since the fairies had found the one called Bal, who somehow made the items called balloons came from his scales, the fairies did not feel worried. He neither rejected them, wanted to use them, or treated them like lesser beings. He always played with them and ate with them. The witch he lived with, who gave him his name, was a grumpy lady before. But now she had accepted them as Bal’s friends.
They hoped it was still true as they crashed onto her window.
“What are you two doing? You should be careful,” the witch began chastising them like a mom while she opened the window.
“Bal’s in trouble!” was immediately blurted out.
The Witch’s head tilted back as her eyes began to glow. Her broom came to her hand, “Where is he?”
The fairies gulped.
The door almost flew off its hinges as the witch took off into the sky. The fairies followed behind until the witch stopped. The group scanned the ground till they spotted some colors. The witch b-lined right to it. They found a trail of balloons. “Just like the first time I found him,” the witch mentions before tucking the fairies against so she could fly faster.
The fairies glanced at each other and the witch, “Let’s go save our friend!” The fairies cheered as long as they could see the trail. The witch just scoffed and flew faster.
She flew fast enough that the city and the castle appeared in moments while the trail disappeared. “What do we do now?” a fairy wondered.
“Can’t you sense him yet?” the witch teased.
“Well… I can.”
“No! You can’t!”
The two immediately bantered causing the witch to smirk.
“Well even if you couldn’t wide don’t we just guess what human have a habit of doing with monsters that look like dragons,” the witch suggested.
Both fairies looked at each other. “Oh no! Our friend!” they screamed.
“Got that right,” the witch whispered as she began to buzz the castle wall. “Hold on tight,” she shouted as guards began to chase her. She broke, blasted, and soared through the halls and doors till reaching the throne room. “Where is~” she began to demand but the sight before her destroyed her rage.
The fairies giggled.
Bal was kissing a woman.
She was blowing up like his balloons. In fact, the room was frozen till the witch appeared. Bal had managed to expand the woman to three times his size and dwarfing the throne the king sat upon. Bal released her when he heard the witch’s voice. Unfortunately, it was quickly followed by the sound of knights drawing swords. “Fools! You could pop her! Someone screamed as people began moving again.
“Get on!” the witch screamed. Bal jumped on the broom behind her just before she took off.
The witch takes off with him but after they leave the throne room the knights start attacking again. Bal uses some of his balloons; a flurry of explosions cover the releasing of fog, a smoke screen, and some sleeping agent. The witch thought to herself as she noticed, ‘I didn’t know he could do that. He isn’t tell me everything.’ They broke out into open space and start to move over the city. But the guards started launching huge logs and spears at them. Bal uses most of his balloons to block it all. He released a lot of balloons with the sleeping gas for when they start shooting the arrows.
He began to sway as he had trouble keeping his eyes open and his arm up. His body was almost bare of balloons, even his tail was naked. He was worried he did not have enough to defend them anymore. But the true concern was that he doesn’t have enough to lift himself and he weighs too much for the broom.
The witch asked, “Can you inflate two as much as you can to lighten the load and inflate a third with the smoke?” He does but passes out with his arms draped over the witch’s shoulders. The three balloons close to her. The witch and fairies hold him place momentarily but are still under fire.
The witch notices two colors are the same and one is different. She uses the one, filled with the smoke, to create to a shield when it popped. The fairies look at her at the smoke is now hard enough to block the arrows. “I manipulate the smoke but not create it.”
The fairies look at each other and nod. The witch notches her dress begin to glow. “What-“ She sees the fairies ram the balloons down her dress. “What the?!” she screams.
“They were floating away!” they shout. The witch blushes and uses the smoke to hold onto the broom because the balloons were huge and Bal is passed out on her back. The fairies check the scene again. “Well met you outside. We have to ‘deal with something’. After all they have to check out Bal’s biggest balloon to date,” they snickered.
“But!” her worry only lasted a few moments. “Ok. But he’ll be mad if something happens to you,” she explained. Witch was worried but knew getting Bal home was everyone’s concern.
The fairies nod and fly off.
The witch begins to head home. Flying out of the city was odd but so much easier then getting there. She slowed down after they crossed in the wood area. Even releasing a large sigh. The woods were peaceful.
As they go home, her distracted mind was brought back to focus as she feels the balloons in her dress start to get bigger. “Stop that!” she tried to protest as she had to maneuver the broom and Bal over the growing mounds. She heard something by her ear and realized Bal was muttering in his sleep. ‘He must not notice we’re out of danger now,’ she thought. ‘Though it is surprising that he is inflating ones that are detached from him,’ she began analyzing. When his weight shifted, worry returned. His scales began to try growing back but had trouble.
She smiled. “We’re ok. We’re going home.” She just repeated it for a few minutes. A new montra for him to hear for a while. She felt his body lose tension and the muttering stop. His body was still trying to grow back his balloon scales but that was natural for any creature, right? But why was he having so much trouble with things that used to be almost automatic.
“Ok. Can you make just one? Don’t worry about inflating it.”
She saw one grow on the arm draped over her. “Thank you,” she plucked it off him carefully. “Sorry if that hurt.” She casts a spell and blows into the balloon. It only inflates a little but a glow washes over him. “It should be ok now. You can use some of my magic till you feel better. Just rest. We’ll be home shortly.” She swears he fell asleep after that.
It was an awkward flight as she tried to lower down before the house.
The fairies reappeared and helped clear the way. “What happened to you two? Are you ok?”
“We’re fine. We just played with the balloon.”
“What?”
“Yeah. Bal let’s us play with his balloons that he creates. Some of his experiments are really fun. Even if all them end up popping.” The witch almost swore she heard them growl.
They patted the two giant ones in her dress. “Well maybe not all.” Playful again. Giggling at the blushing witch.
“Let’s get him inside.”
They all move him into the house.
“Is he ok?”
“He will be. He’s just out of magic at the moment. Considering he is a creature made from a magic wish I was worried about that for a moment,” The witch admitted as she rested Bal’s head in her lap.
One of fairies bounced on her hand. “IS that what this is for?”
She lifted the balloon. “Yes. I wasn’t sure it would work until he inflated balloons not connected to his body.” She noticed they were curious. And smiled. “Sine he was about to inflate things not connect to him with his magic I was able to use my magic and reserve the flow. Now, I’m able to give him some of my magic so he can stabilize and recover.” She explained while stroking his head.
The fairies watched for a moment and smirked. “So, if you blow it up more will he be a big dragon when he wakes up? Or if it deflates will he get smaller?”
“Why don’t we ask him to try those ideas next time? I don’t want to over work his body.”
The fairies sat on the balloon. “And we don’t want anyone to be able to pop our friend! Yeah. He’s the greatest guy in the woods.”
The witch was beginning to relax as a little. A ‘yes’ slipped out of her smirk when both of the fairies grabbed the end of the balloon. “So! he can have some of our magic too!” declaring before stuffing their heads into the end of the balloon. The size tripled automatically.
All the magic they poured into the balloon reflected over Bal’s body. His body began to glow as all the budding balloons expand. The once person shaped dragon was now more like a floaty of tightly knitted together balloons. Some how the dragon shape still manage to ring turn even if this was the most decorative and colorful he had ever been. The glow subsided.
“Wow! I didn’t know he could make ones like that! Or the colors” The fairies cheer as they begin bouncing across his back.
The witch now has a face full of balloons since the two in her dress were pushed up by the newly inflated lot. “Maybe I should take these out or po-“
“Don’t you dare!”
“Yeah!”
“Those are his magic. And its all for you! You should appreciate it!”
“I do. I just… Want to see that he’s ok. “
A loud snore-
“He’s fine,”-everyone said.
“You should inflate him more!”
“Like I already said. Let’s try that another time.” She sees the fairies annoyed. “Do you think the balloons will go flying off if we don’t tie the enchanted balloon next time?”
“OH! Then we can see if he can inflate them again! Yeah!” The fairies got excited.
“I hope he wakes up soon. Yeah.”
“How big do you think he’ll get in his sleep this time?” The witch teased. Picking on the fact that she knew he automatically inflates in his sleep.
“I don’t know!” The fairies got excited. “But I’m going to wait right here till he does wake up.”
“Well, I am going to wait over here because I think I’ll be higher than you.”
The fairies banter and tease each other as the sounds of shuffling rubber fill the air. The witch smiles as she feels something rubbing against her hand. “You’re late,” she teased as she wove their fingers together.