The quartet had only been flying for thirty minutes when Donald announced something. "Alright you two, we're at a crossroad." Balle sighed, seeing they were at a split in the 'road'. One path lead to a temple, the other to a castle.
"Where do ya reckon we should go?" Goofy asked them from the pilot's chair.
"I don't know, right, I guess." Balle said.
"Alright then, let's check out that temple!" Sora declared. Goofy nodded and flew the ship towards said world.
The quartet eventually made it past all the enemy ships and landed in a bamboo forest. "I wasn't expecting all that." Balle muttered. The others laughed at him.
"You'll get used to it!" Sora said. They walked through the grove, where Goofy spotted a person dressed as a soldier... and a large lizard-like shadow on a rock. "Huh?" His question caught the attention of the others, and they bent down into a huddle.
"A Heartless?" Donald asked. Balle glanced over at the shadow. It certainly didn't look like a Heartless, and the soldier didn't seem afraid of it whatsoever.
"Let's get the jump on 'em!" Sora whispered. Sora and Donald charged at the shadow.
"Gawrsh, maybe we better look before we leap!" Goofy called to the others. Balle sweat dropped. The soldier glanced at them surprised. The shadow disappeared, and a red lizard ran out from behind the rock and hid behind the soldier, after they yelped in surprise. They two began cowering. Sora and Donald stopped running and sweat dropped. Goofy and Balle came up behind them. Goofy seemed to recognize the lizard. "Is that Mushu?" he asked.
The lizard jumped out from behind the soldier and smirked. "That's right! I know you heard of me!" the lizard said arrogantly. "I'm little, lethal, and legendary! Now y'all scram before I get my dragon dander up!"
Sora grinned. "Hey, Mushu!" he exclaimed. "We missed you!"
"Well you better hope I miss you, or else you're -" Mushu did a double take. "Sora! Donald! Goofy!"
"Do you know them?" the soldier asked in disbelief.
"Know them?" Mushu scoffed, hopping off the soldier's shoulder. He began walking towards them. "Man, we used to kick all kinds of bad guy butt together! Yeah, you know, I helped these guys out of a lot of tight spots!" he leaned on Sora's leg. "Cause I'm a mighty dragon! Right?"
Sora moved his foot, causing Mushu to fall over. "Something like that." Sora teased. Mushu picked himself up in a huff. He then noticed Balle.
"Hey, who's this big dragon?" he pointed at Balle. Balle knelt down next to the small dragon.
"Name's Balle." he said. Mushu hopped up on his shoulder. "Nice to meet you as a fellow dragon, Mushu."
"So... who are you?" Sora asked the soldier. The soldier got up from the ground.
"I'm Mulan - er, no, I - I mean.." the soldier fumbled.
"Ping!" Mushu said suddenly. Balle blinked in confusion.
"Mulan Ping?" Donald asked crossing his arms.
"Just... Ping. I am Ping, son of Fa Zhou." the soldier said, taking on a 'masculine' voice.
"You know Mushu?" Sora asked.
"Mushu's one of my family's guardians." Ping explained.
"We didn't know we were borrowin' somebody as important as a family guardian." Goofy commented. Mushu suddenly jumped into their faces, startling them.
"Yeah, that's right!" he said, jumping on Ping's shoudler. "And that puts you four up to your eyeballs in debt to Ping here! Well, guess what, kiddies? It's payback time!"
"Mushu..." Ping scolded him.
"Ah, they don't mind." Mushu said. "Ain't that right?"
"Sounds fair." Sora said thoughtfully. Mushu and Ping brightened upon hearing this.
"See, Ping here is on his way to join the Imperial Army," Mushu said. "We gotta go find the other recruits over at the training camp."
"Would you join us?" Ping asked. "It'll be easier to fit in if I'm with guys, like you."
"Fit in?" Sora asked confused.
"Guys like you?" Balle continued.
"Well, er, don't worry about that." Mushu said hastily.
"You're pretendin' to be a boy, aren't ya?" Goofy asked. Sora and Donald did a huge take. Balle was surprised as well, though he thought something was strange about this guy.
o.O
"You're a... girl?" Sora asked incredulously. Balle coughed violently while Goofy chuckled.
'Ping' looked sheepish, then hopeful. "You didn't notice?" she asked in a feminine voice. Sora and Donald shook their heads vigorously. Balle sighed in relief. He had been expecting rage and violence to follow Sora's question. He shuddered at the thought of a few of his friends being asked that question.
Mulan looked back at Mushu. "I think it's working," she said with excitement, as her disguise actually worked.
Mushu shook his head. "I don't know Mulan, those two would fall for anything." he said as he and Mulan walked past them.
"I'm right here!" Sora said indignant. Donald just huffed angrily. They followed her nonetheless.
"Nice to meet you, Mulan." Balle said cheerfully.
"Nice to meet you too, Balle," Mulan said. "But can you please keep my real gender a secret?" she begged them.
"Of course!" Sora said.
"Your secret's safe with us." Balle agreed. She smiled as they made their way to a group of tents in the distance. They reached the encampment in a thirty minute walk, and the six of them looked around. Mushu popped out of Mulan's armor and said. "Remember Ping... Manly!" Mulan straightened up and began walking in a very awkward way. Balle noticed and quickly pulled her back.
"Guys don't walk like that." Balle whispered, sweat dropping. Her eyes widened.
"Really?" she asked. Balle chuckled and shook his head.
"Don't think about it, just walk." he advised. "And do not walk with one foot in front of the other, I've noticed that girls do that a lot."
"How do you know?" she asked curiously.
"I've seen a lot of girls and they tend to walked with one foot in front of the other, that's why their hips sway." he said with a slight blush, remembering several incidents where he had nearly been caught staring. Mulan noticed this and smirked. She opened her mouth to comment when they suddenly heard a loud yelp. They turned to see Sora and Donald in a huge brawl with two other men while Goofy was trying to calm them down. Balle sweat dropped.
"We just can't leave them alone can we?" Balle jokes about Sora, Donald and Goofy. She smiled at him before rushing over to the fight, Balle followed. She looked at the brawlers in distress.
"Please!" she shouted in an anti-masculine way. This caused everyone to halt and stare at her.
"Please?" the skinnier of the two repeated incredulously.
"What a girl..." the short one muttered. Mulan's eyes widened.
"Uh... knock it off!" she demanded in her 'manly' voice.
"Knock what off?" the short one asked challengingly.
"He means calm down and get back in line." Balle said irritably. He hated people like this. The short one growled.
"I don't take orders from you, pal!" he snarled and charged at him. Balle's eyes narrowed. He sidestepped, tripping the man in the process. Balle felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. He ducked, causing the skinny one to jump onto the short one. The two began beating each other up, not realizing they were fighting each other.
"Nice one, Balle!" Donald praised. Sora laughed.
"Thanks for the backup guys!" he said. Before he could say anything else, however, a voice broke in.
"Soldier! Get back in line!" the man's voice demanded. Said man strode up to them, he had black armor and a red cape.
"The Captain!" The skinny guy exclaimed as they all filed back into line. The Captain looked at them suspiciously before walking away. Sora glared at the short man before gasping as several Shadows suddenly appeared.
"What are they?" Mulan asked nervously.
"Heartless!" Sora replied as he and Balle summoned their Keyblades. Mulan, Donald and Goofy whipped out their respective weapons. The three men from before ran off, assumingly to fetch their weapons.
"Alright, Ping." Balle called. "You ready for this?" She nodded and they attacked the Heartless. After a short fight, in which Mulan struggled slightly, the Captain approached them.
"You four," he called to them. "What are your names?"
"Balle."
"Sora!"
"Donald!"
"Goofy, too!" The captain nodded.
"You're welcome in my troop." he told them. "Your battle skills are encouraging." Mulan felt that this was the time to introduce herself.
"I am the son of Fa Zhou-" The Captain cut her off.
"You should return home." he said bluntly. Mulan flinched.
"But... That would dishonor my family!" she exclaimed.
The Captain glared at her. "You'd rather dishonor my troops?" Mulan began getting angry. Before she could say anything she would regret, Sora saved her.
"If Ping trains hard and does his best, he'll get stronger in no time." he said.
"Hmm.".
"Just give Ping a chance." Balle said. "Give us an assignment."
Sora nodded. "We'll show you how well we can work together."
"So... you want to be tested?" The Captain asked. He closed his eyes for a few seconds before looking at them. "Our orders are to ambush Shan-Yu's army on their way here. They should be coming through the mountain pass."
"We'll smash them!" Donald said, stomping his foot for good measure.
The Captain smirked. "I doubt that, you'll be the advance party." he told them. "Scout out the mountains for my troops."
Sora leaned back. "That's it? No problem!" he looked at Mulan, who was looking slightly nervous. "Right?"
She looked down. "R-right!"
"Well then, let's go!" Balle cheered.
"I don't think so," the Captain interrupted, making them fall over. "You leave first thing tomorrow. Do as you wish until then." He walked off then.
"Well, what now?" Sora asked.
"Well we should prepare for our mission." Mulan said. "We can practice fighting?"
"Sounds good," Sora agreed. "just wait 'til the Captain sees how much you've improved."
"I think I'll skip out guys." Balle said yawning. "I'm still beat from my last... adventure, and that battle definitely didn't help."
"You're right, Balle." Sora nodded. "You get some rest while we help Ping here!"
"Alright, I'll see you in the morning." Balle waved them good-bye. He sighed and attempted to find the Captain to ask if there were any spare tents.
Balle blinked as he looked around him. He was at his Station again! Grinning, he quickly called out, "Aqua?" He looked around, seeing no one. "Are you trying to attack me again?"
Balle suddenly stiffened. He spun around to see a figure about his size standing before him. The only thing the figure wore was... a black cloak. "The Organization!" Balle gasped. "What are you doing here?" Balle demanded.
"What am I doing here?" the figure repeated. "I live here, stupid."
"You live here?" Balle growled. "In my heart?"
"I see, you're not only stupid," the figure mocked. "but you're deaf as well."
"Say that again." Balle barked as he summoned his Keyblades.
"Oh yeah, I've been waiting for this!" the figure laughed. He held out his hand. In it appeared a weapon... Oblivion, Oathkeeper and Starlight appeared in his hand and mouth.
"Three?!" Balle exclaimed. He didn't understand, this Nobody was wielding Keyblades? It was like looking in a mirror, this Organization member had his Keyblades in the opposite hands, and his stance was almost exactly like Balle's. "Who are you?" Balle asked.
"Someone who was born in darkness." the figure responded. He charged, prompting Balle to do the same. Both unleashed a flurry of lightning fast strikes, each being parried another strike. The figure flipped over Balle, attempting to slice his head in the process. Balle quickly blocked the attack and flung Oblivion at the figure. The Organization member quickly retaliated by throwing his Oathkeeper at it, causing them to collide in midair. Both warriors charged and grabbed a blade before jumping back. Balle now had two Oathkeepers, the Organization member had two Oblivions.
They charged again matching each other blow for blow, before the figure kicked Balle's feet from under him. He attempted to stab at Balle's face, but only resulted in stabbing his Keyblade into the ground. Balle flipped away and landed crouching, ready to spring.
"Heh." the Oranization member scoffed. He slid Oblivion over, while Balle did the same with Oathkeeper. However, the figure didn't give him any time to catch his breath, as he charged again. Balle growled and did the same. Their blades met in the middle as their faces were inches apart. Even at this distance, Balle couldn't make out the person's face. Balle could feel the person pushing him back. Growling, Balle pushed as well.
'We're evenly matched in almost every way...' Balle thought to himself. 'Who is this guy?'
"This could go on forever!" Balle shouted as he pulled away.
"But it won't!" the figure shouted back as he charged again. Balle was tired of this. He charged as well, but bluffed at the last second. He moved to the side, surprising the figure and causing him to lose balance. Balle placed his Keyblades on either side of his neck. The figure sighed and stood up, dismissing his Keyblades, he walked past Balle before turning back to him slightly. "Not bad..." he muttered before disappearing in a flash of light.
"What?" Balle asked shocked.
"Balle!" he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. "Are you okay?"
"Aqua?" Balle asked. Balle turned around as she let go.
"I felt you, but I couldn't get to you." Aqua said. "I was worried something happened to you."
"I'm fine, Aqua." Balle said wearily as he flopped onto the ground. Aqua was about to follow when his pocket flashed. She jumped back as a blonde girl in a mini skirt and a strange variation of a magician's hat suddenly appeared. Balle blinked as he suddenly felt someone hugging him.
"Balle-chan~! Mou~! You gave me a real fright!" Dark said pouting.
"Hey, Dark." he said without even looking at who was hugging him. "So you can come here too, huh?" he turned slightly and met her worried gaze. "I'm fine, Dark. I can fight on my own." he assured her. She didn't look happy, cut didn't press it either.
"Wha - W- who?" Aqua stuttered.
"Oh, Dark, Aqua." Balle introduced. "Aqua, Dark Magician Girl. Dark for short."
"I - it's nice to meet you." Aqua said.
"Hi~!" Dark said waving enthusiastically.
"Anyway, I'm beat." Balle groaned.
"Here, this should help a little," Aqua said raising a hand, which glowed green. "Cure!" Balle was enveloped in a green light as he felt some of his weariness fade.
"Thanks, Aqua." Balle thanked her. She reached into a pocket and withdrew a green orb and held it out. "I'm assuming that this is Cure?"
"Yes, you need it more than me." she stated as he took the orb. Balle closed his eyes as his body absorbed the spell.
"Thanks."
"So, what's happened to you so far?" she asked as she sat on his right side, as Dark sat on his left. Balle closed his eyes and laid back as he told them all the things that had happened so far. Upon finishing he let out a sigh, and eventually fell asleep. Aqua turned to Dark. They had a few things to talk about... Until they both saw a man who has soothing blue eyes and long brown hair. He also sported a short brown mustache and a small droopy white beard. He wears a white, sky blue lined haori robe that has a hood and ancient blue runic glyph markings. Underneath his robe, he wears a black shirt and black pants. "A pleasure to meet you two."
