Synopsis: In a world where very little seems to happen and lives are simple and peaceful, a group of teenagers are about to be thrown into a world of darkness, tragedy and sadness. One a future Keyblade master for the light, one a misguided puppet of the dark and one a balance between these two elements. Sometimes even the most insignificant people can make the biggest difference.

Authors Notes: For anyone who might be familiar with my work or even Dark Lord Sigma and MASmaster, you might notice that this fiction is actually a reposting of my first ever Fanfiction; Kingdom Hearts: The Balance Between Dark and Light. This however has been reworked, reworded in many places, and some events changed or altered. The reason I am not simply replacing chapters of my old story is because I am not sure whether I will want this version to be the proper version KH: BBDAL in the storyline I have plotted. So just bare with me for now, read this and enjoy it. Reviews are appreciated! I will aim to reply to every single review I get in a PM, it is only fair seeing as you take the time to read and review my work!

Request: I am currently looking for any beta readers who are willing to give this revised project a helping hand, I would be appreciative of any assistance! Thank you in advance!

Disclaimer: As much as I want to, I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney characters or the Final Fantasy characters. I only own my original character Dav and the storyline of the balance yet to be fully explained!

Chapter 1: Where It All Began

The midday sun beat down on the Destiny Islands, basking the island paradise in a warm golden glow. On the beach Sora, Riku and the others were sat watching Tidus and Dav in a sparring match on the beach. Dav, who stood about five foot ten with soft blue eyes and medium length blonde hair that spiked out towards the front, was lazily resting against a coconut tree watching his opponent warm up. Tidus stood about five foot eight with pale blue eyes and mucky blonde coloured hair that looked like it had never seen a comb. He was swinging his red cane that he used as a weapon, preparing for the fight that he had lost that week already.

"Well, are we ever gonna get started show off?" said Dav with a tone that was full of boredom as he stood up and retrieved his two wooden swords that were stuck in the sand next to him.

"Yeah, let's go then, I'm feeling lucky today" replied Tidus with a beaming grin that made the onlookers laugh at his childishness. Dav stood ready for battle; his body turned on an angle with one foot forward, his swords raised close to his body ready to defend. Tidus however stood with his left foot slightly forward his body in a much more relaxed position clutching his weapon in his right hand loosely.

Before anyone could make the first move Sora and Wakka grabbed their own sparring weapons, Wakka's a blue and white Blitzball that he threw very accurately at opponents and Sora with a single shorter wooden sword than one of Dav's, both charged onto the beach and attacked the two blondes.

"Well, now this is gonna be fun after all!" Dav said with a smirk as Sora charged him. Sora brought his sword in an overhead arch, aiming for the blonde's head. Dav raised one of his own weapons and met the attacked, his other lashing out at Sora's midsection. The brunette hopped backwards out of the way, releasing Dav's other weapon. They prepared to meet again, when Tidus came barrelling between them running from a very accurate Wakka. A blue ball followed the fleeing teen and collided with the back of his head.
While Dav was distracted with the scene Sora launched at him with a jumping attack. He dropped to the floor in time to avoid it and rolled away. He then got to his feet and ran back towards Sora. He hurled his swords at Sora as he yelled "Payback time!"They flew towards him spinning as they drew closer; Sora ducked the first sword and jumped over the second but got caught in the lower stomach by a stiff kick from Dav who said "Gotcha" in a mocking tone. As Dav checked that he hadn't hurt Sora a powerful Blitzball shot caught him right in the back of the head. Sora grinned and whispered "Gotcha" and then laughed innocently. Dav cursed his naivety of being caught off guard by Sora's act.

Dav again rose to his feet to find all three opponents advancing on him. He grabbed his weapons from the sand and stood ready again, although now breathing hard courtesy of Wakka's sneak attack. Riku who was watching from the sidelines ran and jumped high in the air, clutching his own wooden sword and landed to the right side of Dav.

"I've got your back, let's finish this" he said with a confident tone. Wakka and Tidus attacked Dav while Sora took on Riku. Wakka again launched a powerful Blitzball from in the air. The blonde teenager pretended not to see it, and waited until the projectile got close. He bawled up a fist and socked it right back towards Wakka. It hit him in his head and he flew three feet backwards and landed on his back, the force of the hit propelling him across the sand leaving a trail where he slid.

Tidus raised his cane and swung it horizontally to Dav's head. However he ducked the blow and was crouched with his back now to Tidus. He then supported himself with his right arm on the sand and swung his whole body around to meet Tidus who fell backwards after both of Dav's feet impacted on to his chest. Dav then stood up and looked around to see Wakka sat up rubbing his head where a now very clear red mark from his own weapon was showing. Tidus was breathing heavily regaining his breath from being winded. Across from the skirmish Riku and Sora both were laid on the sandy beach staring up at the clear blue sky dazed. After laughing to himself Dav approached Wakka and held out his hand and helped him stand, who although looking a bit shaken was alright.

8A8

Hours later the gang were laid around a small camp fire. With everyone fast asleep Dav sat up, stretched his arms in the air and yawned loudly, surprisingly not waking anybody up. He silently jumped over a sleeping Selphie and landed almost without a sound on the soft sand of the beach. The sand made nothing more than a quiet crunching sound under his faded white trainers he always wore when messing around with the others. He sat himself a few feet away from the waters edge and stared out into the endless, peaceful darkness of the ocean surrounding Destiny Islands. As he continued to stare into the peaceful expanse something caught his eye, a small something glittering in the moonlight that was floating out beyond the shallows.

He slowly waded out into the increasingly deeper water and then jumped and dived under and began swimming toward the object. After swimming for what seemed like forever he reached out and grabbed the small object, placed into his pocket and swam back to shore. He left the others and made his way to the other side of the island where he found a small alcove set into the rock face of the island a few metres above the ground. He grabbed a nearby wooden crate and placed it at the foot of the alcove and used it as extra height to jump to it. He grabbed the ledge of the small cave and hoisted himself up. Only Riku or he could have made that jump without the crate but he was aching from the earlier sparring match.

In the cave there were debris towards the back, including a smashed wooden box and even a few pieces of flint. He sat at the back of the cave and rested his back up against the cave wall and removed the small object he found from his pocket. It was a small pendant with a small black heart on which there was red outlining and two further red lines splitting the heart into four sections on the right hand side; while on the left was a silver crown. But what stood out to Dav the most was the symbol in the middle of the other two, a pair of red lightning bolts crossing with a sword at either side, this bothered him because on his left leg of his tan coloured combat style trousers was the same symbol which he always considered his symbol.

He ran a finger over the lightning bolts and then over the back and found an inscription that read ' Whether you accept the light or embrace the dark, One of these shall be your mark, One day soon you'll have to choose, Which to gain and which to lose'. He rested his head against the back wall, still clutching the pendant and he fell into a troubled sleep with the inscription whizzing around in his head over and over again.

8A8

This place was dead. He could feel it. The entire world reduced to a barren wasteland.

Desert... miles of desert as far as the eye could see. A dead city which extruded a deeper darkness than the surrounding night. Above it stretched a huge highway which was swallowed by the darkness in the distance. Mountains, wrapped in a veil of black, next to a dried up lake bed, the ground fractured and dry. To add to the foreboding atmosphere there was something there, hiding in the shadows. A maddened malice which threatened to consume all and throw even the happiest person into a pit of despair. This place was dead.

A8A

"Hey, there you are, I'd thought you'd got bored and gone home or something" laughed Riku as he clambered into the small cave, waking Dav with a jump start.

"Oh...err...heh... nah, I wasn't tired so I took a walk and found myself here" Dav said half yawning and scratching the back of his head with his left hand.

"Wasn't tired and yet you managed to fall asleep?"

"Yeah, I am allowed to get tired aren't I?"

Riku gave an amused smile. "Anyway, we're all heading home now, you coming or are you going to stay here in your cave?" laughed Riku in a taunting voice. Dav just laughed and then punched Riku in his arm and jumped straight out of the alcove and ran towards the door leading to the other side of the island.

"Hey, cheat" Riku called as Dav sprinted away, now followed by a determined Riku. They both arrived at the beach to find everyone had gone back to the mainland and left them there.

"Meh, looks like were swimming back" joked Dav as he rubbed the back of his head again. Riku nodded and they both dived into the water. The distance was not too far between the islands. Riku and Dav soon caught up with the others who were rowing their boats back to the island. Riku rocked Sora's boat so he fell in the ocean and then climbed in and laughed.

"You're all washed up Sora!"

"Hey, no fair, you should have brought your own boat today, lazy!" Sora said in a fake moaning voice and then pouted. Riku just grinned and then pulled him back into the boat. Dav joined Tidus in his wooden craft and together they rowed back to the mainland.

8A8

Dav was asleep in his room when a loud crack of thunder erupted from outside. He woke with a start, sitting up in bed and rubbing his eyes to wake him up. The pendant he found earlier was hanging from a black string around his neck. He climbed out of bed and glanced out of the window which gave a spectacular view of the small pier where all the kids docked their boats, the stretch of ocean and then Destiny Islands. A giant black orb of swirling energy was hovering high in the sky above Destiny Islands, the thunder from the big black clouds boomed through the house. He then looked properly at the small jetty and realised some of the boats were missing.

Without bothering to make his bed, he searched a drawer and got dressed in a pair of combat trousers not unlike those he wore before and a simple black T-shirt. He also put on a pair of socks, heavy black boots and a sleeveless jacket. Last and most oddly of all, Dav took a pair of holsters for small firearms and fixed them around his waist. Out of a box he took two handguns, both of which were jet black and identical in appearance. He placed them in the holsters and made to leave the house and into the night. He ran to the pier where the boats where and got into one, he then untied the ropes that kept it from floating away it and started off toward the island through the rough sea. He couldn't explain why, but he felt compelled to return to the island despite the apparent danger of the unexplained energy in the sky.

As he approached the Island he noticed three boats where already tied to the pier. He tied up his boat, grabbed his wooden swords from the boat and ran onto the beach. Immediately he noticed Sora on the small island that Riku usually hung out on. A bridge extended to the Island which was near a small shack in which there were steps that lead back onto the beach. He watched Sora intently until something moving in the ground caught his eye, a small shadowy patch was moving along the sandy ground toward him and fast. As it grew closer a small black creature with big yellow eyes and sharp claws emerged. Dav watched the little creature, curiosity more than fear building inside of him. Until it leapt at him. In an act of panic he brought both his wooden weapons down on it as it flew at him but they simply passed through it and it caught him in his right cheek with its claws. He attacked it again but again the swords passed through it and he continued to get hurt by it.

He threw down his wooden swords and rolled out of the way of another jump assault attempt, he un-holstered one of his father's keepsake guns, known as Sabre C24's and fired at the little shadow monster four times in total, three in the body and one in the head. Firing the weapons was not much of a problem for him, because he had practised with targets in his backyard in the past. It did feel strange actually shooting at something living though. The creature disappeared into thin air and three little green spheres were left behind. Dav walked closer to them and they flew at him and entered his body through his chest, it caused him to glow a green aura for a minute and the scratch marks on his arms and face vanished. He felt as if he had just woken up from a good nights sleep. He looked up and Sora had vanished from the Island so he walked further up the beach toward it.

He swam out to the small island and climbed a wooden ladder around the back. He stood in the centre of the Island and another shadowy patch appeared, first just one then two then three and before he knew it lots of the creatures were surrounding him. He drew both guns and fired at the creatures, he took down a few before he was overwhelmed and a ring of darkness appeared around where he was standing. He began to sink into the darkness, black strands of energy were covering his arms and face and soon he was floating in total darkness. He felt himself slipping out of consciousness, all the energy from his body seemed to be draining away and so he closed his eyes.