"Balle!" an unfamiliar voice echoed in the back of his head. "It's time to wake up."
'Who's there?' Balle thought. The haziness in Balle's head began lifting, as light flooded his vision.
"Gawrsh, you think he's okay?" a different, concerned voice said. Balle was confused.
"I don't know." another voice said. This one definitely sounded strange. Balle groaned as he slowly opened his eyes.
"Hey!" the first voice exclaimed. "He's wakin' up!"
"Who's... there?" Balle asked groggily. After his vision cleared he saw a very strange sight. Before him stood... a dog and a duck. The dog... thing was wearing a green turtleneck, yellow pants and a hat. The duck was wearing a blue vest and hat, with no pants, but it appeared he didn't need any.
"The name's Goofy." the dog said cheerfully. Goofy pointed at the duck behind him, who had his arms crossed and was tapping his foot impatiently. "And that's my friend, Donald Duck."
"I'm Balle. Dragon of the Sun, Balle du Dragon." the dragon responded. He looked around. They were in some sort of basement, and surrounded by some kind of pods. "Where are we?"
"We don't know." Donald responded. "We just woke up and found you in one of those pod things."
"Yeah, but we have to find our friend Sora!" Goofy said. "Why don't you come with us, Balle?"
Balle considered this. He had no idea where he was, and these... people were offering him their company. "Sure. Why not?" Balle said, smiling weakly.
"Great!" Goofy said wrapping an arm around him, helping him up. "I'm sure we'll be friends in no time!"
Donald rolled his eyes in annoyance, but the small smile on his face gave him away. "Anyway, where do you think our friend Sora could be?" the duck asked.
Balle looked around. All the other pods were empty. He saw a door at the end of the hall. "Maybe he's in there." he said pointing at it.
"Well, let's check it out!" Goofy said running towards the door. The others followed and the door slid open to reveal a white room, a single large pod in the center. Balle walked up the the pod and red a small panel.
"It says that this pod contains Sora!" Balle called back. Donald and Goofy nodded.
"Sora!" Donald yelled.
"Sora!" Goofy shouted. "It's time to wake up!" The room suddenly began rumbling. The pod flashed white and began opening. Soon a boy with spiky brown hair, a red jumpsuit and ridiculously big banana yellow shoes.
Sora yawned and stretched then blinked sleepily, causing them to snicker which caught the boy's attention. Upon seeing the two Sora jumped out of his pod and hugged them, landing sloppily. "Donald! Goofy!" he said happily. They held hands and jumped around in a circle, laughing.
A green cricket wearing a tiny suit jumped onto Sora's shoulder and yawned. "Wow, that was some nap." the cricket then jumped onto the floor. Sora looked at the cricket in disbelief.
"You mean... we were asleep?" he asked.
The cricket clutched his head dizzily. "I guess we musta been, or I don't think we'd be so drowsy..." the cricket yawned. He seemed to finally notice Balle.
"Oh... and who might you be?" the cricket asked curiously.
"That's Balle." Goofy said. "We found him asleep in a pod, like you were Sora! He's our new friend!"
"Well, nice you meet you, Balle." the cricket said kindly. "I'm Jiminy Cricket." he bowed.
"And I guess you already know, but I'm Sora!" Sora said, poking himself in the chest.
"It's nice you meet you all." Balle said politely.
"So uh, what did we do last?" Goofy asked his friends. Balle stayed silent. Donald put his chin in his hand while Sora crossed his arms. "Let's see..." the boy muttered. "we defeated Ansem..."
"Yep." Goofy nodded.
"restored peace to the world... found Kairi..." Sora continued. "Oh yeah, and then we went to look for Riku. I think that's right so far?" he asked the others. Balle was even more confused.
"Then what?" Donald asked. Sora crossed his arms again.
"What does your journal say, Jiminy?" Goofy asked the cricket. Said cricket pulled out a tiny journal.
"Gee, there's only one sentence..." Jiminy said in disbelief. "Thank Naminé" the cricket read to them. "Hmm... I wonder who that is?"
They all looked at each other and shrugged, not knowing who this 'Naminé' was. Donald glared at Jiminy. "Some journal that is."
Jiminy blushed and rubbed that back of his head. "Eh... What do ya say we find out where we are!"
"Let's go!" Sora said.
Balle nodded. "Yeah." He suddenly smirked. "So long as Sora doesn't keep from tripping over his shoes!"
"Hey!" Sora cried while the others laughed at his indignant face. "Why does everyone always make fun of my shoes?"
The quartet arrived in town after getting lost several times in the mansion. After some exploration of the town they made their way into an alleyway. As they neared the entrance to some hidden area, the bell of the clock tower rang, making Sora stop and looked around.
"What's wrong, Sora?" Donald asked.
"You know, I think I've been to this town." Sora said quietly. Balle looked around as well.
"You're right..." Balle said. "This place looks familiar."
"What's it called?" Donald asked curiously. Balle shook his head and shrugged.
"Hmm." Sora muttered. "Guess... I must've imagined it." he shrugged as they headed into the hidden area. As they entered they saw a blonde boy, and two brunettes. A boy and a girl.
"What do you want?" the blonde boy glared at them. 'What's with the hostility?' Balle thought.
Sora raised his hands in defense. "Uh, nothing!" Sora rubbing the back of his head. "Just wondering what was back here."
"Well now you know, this is our spot." the blonde boy responded coldly.
"Look, what's your problem?" Balle asked irritably. The brunette boy walked up to them and looked at Sora and Balle strangely. "What?" Balle asked confused at his behavior.
"Oh nothing," he replied. "Are you guys new here? I'm Pence."
The blonde walked up to them. "Hayner, sorry I'm just in a bad mood. Nice to meet you, but we've got stuff to do so, catch ya later." he said walking off. Pence looked at his retreating back in exasperation. The girl walked up as well.
"My name's Olette." she said cheerfully. "Hey, did you finish up the summer homework yet? Independent studies are the worst, huh?"
"Eh... homework?" Balle said nervously. He looked back at the others, who just shrugged.
"Hey, what're your names?" Pence asked curiously.
Goofy jumped. "Oh, sorry." he began pointing at his companions. "We're Sora, Balle, Donald, and Goofy."
Sora nodded. "Hey there." Pence and Olette looked at each other before looking back to them.
"Sora, Balle, Donald, Goofy." Olette said. "We just met someone who was looking for you."
Balle blinked. "Me?" Pence nodded.
"He sure seemed in a hurry." Pence said. "He had a black coat on so I couldn't see his face, but he had these big round ears!" he finished placing his hands on his head in imitation.
Sora, Donald and Goofy thought for a moment. Something popped into Donald's head. "The King!" he exclaimed.
"King?" Balle asked. They nodded at him.
"Guess he knows you too, Balle!" Goofy said with a thumb up.
"Where did you see him?" Sora asked.
"At the station." the girl responded. Sora grinned.
"The station!" he repeated. "Thanks!" They nodded at him.
"Well, we'd better get back to that assignment." Olette said sending Balle a wink, before walking off.
"Later!" Pence waved at them, before running to catch up to his friend.
"Oh boy!" Donald exclaimed happily. "The King's trying to find us!"
"Why would he be looking for me?" Balle asked them. They thought for a moment before shrugging.
"Whatever it is, it must be important!" Goofy said. Sora nodded.
"Yeah!" he agreed. "Let's get to the station!"
As the quartet approached the station, Balle saw a sign above the entrance. "Twilight Town Train Station." Balle read to them. The others looked up. "That sounds... familiar."
"Yeah..." Sora quietly agreed. Before they had any more time to think about it, Balle heard a very familiar sound. He looked behind them, and saw the silvery-white creatures that attacked him during his Awakening. "What are those things?" Balle asked.
Sora, Donald and Goofy ran up next to him. Donald pulled out a staff, Goofy a shield. Sora summoned a key-like sword out of nowhere.
'A Keyblade...' Balle thought. Sora made the first move as he dashed at the creatures with his Keybalde and slashed at them. Goofy began bashing them with his shield while Donald backed them up with some kind of electric attack. One of them made it past and rushed at Balle.
"Balle, look out!" Sora cried as they watch the creature attack. Balle raised his arms, opened his mouth and deflected the attack with his three newly summoned Keyblades. He twirled them around before quickly dispatching the creature. "No way...!" Sora said in shock.
"A Keyblade?" Donald shouted in disbelief.
"No, three!" Goofy said in awe. Balle smirked.
"Alright, who's next?" he challenged. The creatures charged at them again. Balle noticed that Sora used the shaft of the Keyblade to attack, while he himself used the teeth. This went on for about twenty minutes, but every time they destroyed one, another would take it's place. "There's too many of them!" Balle shouted as they were pressed back to back by the creatures. They were surrounded and exhausted. One of the creatures lunged at them and Sora raised his Keyblade desperately. Suddenly a small figure landed from above them and destroyed the creature. He continued destroying the others until there were none left. The quartet saw the figure's weapon was... a Keyblade.
"Your Majesty?" Donald shouted.
"Shh!" The King ordered. "You guys gotta board the train and leave town! The train knows the way." he pulled out the pouch and handed it to Sora. "You too, Balle." He noticed his weapons and smiled widely. "I knew you were special."
"I'm sorry, but how do you know me?" Balle asked confused.
"There's no time for that." he said hastily. Balle looked back to the others, then back to the King... only to find he was gone. Balle sighed.
"The King..." Sora said. "was that really him?"
"It coulda been..." Goofy said hesitantly. "Yep. I know it was!" he finished more certain.
"Now we know he's okay!" Donald said happily. Sora crossed his arms.
"The King was locked in the Realm of Darkness, right?" Sora asked. Balle looked at him sharply, remembering his promise to Aqua. Donald and Goofy nodded. "But... we saw him just now."
"Yep!"
"And if the King's here, that means Riku's here!" Sora exclaimed in realization.
"He's gotta be!" Donald said. Balle just sighed in confusion. "Sorry, Balle. We'll explain more later." Balle smiled weakly.
"Well, I'm gonna go look for Riku." Sora declared. "Then he and I can go back to the islands together. Kairi's there waiting for us! What are you guys gonna do?"
Donald and Goofy put on a face. "Gawrsh Sora, do you have to ask?" Goofy muttered. Sora laughed.
"Hey!" Donald said indignantly. "What's so funny?"
"Your face!" Sora laughed. The two looked at each other and burst out laughing. Balle laughed along with them. "What do you say, guys? Let's stick together for one more journey!" They nodded and turned to Balle. "What about you, Balle?"
Balle crossed his arms. "Well, I don't exactly know what's going on, but I have nothing else I can do." Balle shrugged.
"Great!" Sora grinned. "Welcome to the team, Balle!"
"Now we got two Keybladers!" Goofy said excitedly.
"Say, Balle?" Sora began. "How can you wield three Keyblades?"
Balle blinked. "You mean... that's not normal?" The shook their heads. "Well... the Kings said I was special... so maybe I am?" Balle said sheepishly. They sighed but nodded in acceptance of his answer.
"So..." Sora said with his hands behind his head. "where are we supposed to go?"
Balle rolled his eyes playfully. "The train, remember?"
"Oh yeah!" Sora said sheepishly. They all sighed at him. "Oh, c'mon!"
As they entered the station, Hayner, Pence, and Olette ran up behind them. "Wait up!" Hayner shouted. Balle, Sora, Donald and Goofy stopped in their tracks.
"What is it?" Sora asked confused.
"We came to see you off." Pence explained "It just... seemed like something we oughta do."
"Really?" Balle asked surprised. "Thanks!" He grinned at them. They grinned back. Sora walked over to the counter and pulled out the pouch the King had given them.
Olette gasped upon seeing it. "What is it?" Donald asked. Olette pulled a pouch that looked exactly the same. Everyone looked at it in surprise.
"They're the same!" Goofy exclaimed. Olette nodded. Sora glanced at them before shrugging.
"Four tickets please." the man behind the booth handed him the tickets before taking the necessary amount of money. Sora looked towards the train, a sad look on his face. "I can't help feeling like we won't see this town again..." Hayner, Pence and Olette looked at him in confusion.
"Why not?" Donald asked.
"You're thinkin' too much." Goofy assured. Balle scratched the back of his head. For some reason, he felt the same as Sora.
"Guess you're right." Sora agreed. Balle however, wasn't convinced.
"Okay!" Donald said. "Let's go!" He and Goofy hopped onto the train. Sora and Balle turned back to Hayner's gang.
"Bye." Sora said smiling.
"Hey Sora, Balle?" Hayner asked. "You sure we haven't met before?"
"Yeah." Balle said. He hadn't even left his own world before, after all. Sora thought about it.
"Positive." Sora responded. "Why do you ask?"
Hayner shrugged with a grin. "I dunno." Sora smiled as a tear fell down his cheek. Balle looked at him in concern. Sora wiped away his tear.
"Huh?"
"You okay?" Balle asked.
"Y- yeah, don't know where it came from." Sora explained while wiping his face.
Hayner chuckled. "Pull it together." Sora smiled embarrassed.
"Right... See ya!" as he boarded the train.
"Later." Balle said waving at them. They stared at him. "What?" Hayner chuckled.
"Not you too!" Balle looked confused. He felt his face and found moisture.
Balle blushed. "Well I guess... we just met, and we're already saying goodbye."
"You guys'll come back for a visit, won't you?" Olette asked hopefully.
"You bet we will!" Balle said. "No need to worry!" Balle said. They smiled at him and waved goodbye as he boarded the train. They watched as the train doors closed and the train began moving out of the station.
A/N: Oi that actually took longer than I expected and FYI: Balle's height is about taller than Terra about two inches taller.