Ok, so a few things before I start;
THIS IS AN AU! I will be following the original storyline, and keeping some scenes exactly the same, but this is an alternate universe, things are going to be different, VERY different, especially once I hit Season /
So enjoy the ride!
Another thing, I'm posting the fic here and on Advanced-Scribes. A friend, skystar901, will be posting it on Ao3

Oh, and another thing. If anyone ever wants to do an RP with me set in this universe, PM me or skystar901 [who also wants to do one] about a 1x1 in the Yin-Yang dimension[to be made clear at a later date] either here, on Advanced-Scribes, or on ChickenSmoothie. Though AS would be preferred.

One last thing, this is an anime style AU, so the characters are humans, not legos

The rising sun shone over the land of Ninjago, and as the land fades into view, a blacksmith's shop can be seen, clanging noises heard, and an elderly man with a wide bamboo hat is nearing.

Fourteen year old Kai continued to hammer the red-hot metal over an anvil. He had been working on it for several minutes now, maybe even half an hour. Remembering the words his father had spoken many times over, he spoke aloud, into the crisp morning air. "To forge the perfect weapon, you first need the right metal and plenty of heat."

Picking up the still glowing metal by its cooled handle, the spiky haired red-head pushed it into a bucket of water. "Cool it off...and Presto!" He held up the sword triumphantly, but after seeing the disheveled form, his excitement faded, and he sighed with disappointment. His father had always made the best weapons, while all Kai ever could make was twisted hunks of metal.

A soft laugh came from behind, and Kai turned to see his younger sister Nya, a raven haired thirteen-year old, walking towards him. "You made it too quickly Kai, if father were still here" Kai cut her off, quoting his fathers words of wisdom that had been spoken so many times. "I know, I know. No matter how much fire you have, experience isn't something you learn overnight" he sighed, and put the metal back onto the anvil. "That might work for you Nya, but I'm going to be a better Blacksmith than dad ever was!"

Footsteps caused the siblings to turn, to see an elderly man with a long white beard entering, a walking stick in one hand, the other hand rubbing his beard as he gazed around thoughtfully. "Hmm...your metal is loud and heavy" the old man commented. "Useful to slow one down. Useless in the art of stealth."

Kai arched an eyebrow as the man continued to walk through the shop, before pausing and looking at Kai and adding "All tools for a samurai, but nothing for a Ninja? "

Kai frowned, he had never had to deal with a customer like this, "Ninja? Huh, you're a long way from finding a ninja in these parts, old man." Kai's glare intensified, the dark red color of his eyes sparking and growing brighter like it did when he was angry "And the shop is called "Four Weapons," not "For Browsing". Either buy something or go pedal your insults somewhere else! " he snapped.

The old man surprised him, the golden eyes sparking with humor as he chuckled "Hah..." shaking his head he added "too bad. Thought I'd find something special here. "

Behind the old man, Kai could see Nya gesturing for him to show the old man around. Sighing, Kai turned, and walked over to a shelf. He could hear Nya walking out towards a different wall. Picking up a helmet he called behind him "Let me show..." he turned around, helmet in hand, only to find empty space. He looked over to his sister, but Nya looked as confused as he was. His sister shrugged as Kai stammered "He was just..." shaking his head, he walked to put the helmet back "never mind"

{Go-ninja-ninja-go}

Dark clouds rise over the village of Ignacia, shrowding everything, even the large hill 4Weapons was located on top of, in shadow. On a rise near the origin of the clouds, Skulkin buggies and bikes appeared, filled with Skulkin's ready to storm into the valley below

"Oh, oh. Let me go first! Please, oh please? I'm dying to go down there!" came from one of the Skulkins, one riding in the largest buggy with the Skulkin King Samukai.

"You nitwit" shouted another, slapping the first, making it's head spin around "You're already dead, try to control yourself in front of Master Samukai" he glanced at the skeleton king, and his tone changed to one of respect "With all due respect, last time...you did say...I could go first." he said, a hint of hope breaking into his voice.

The four armed skeleton laughed at his soldiers antics, but said "Sorry boys, this one is mine. Just remember what we're after and find that map"

He raised his voice now, so that all the army could hear "ATTACK!"

At his command, the entire legion of vehicles charged down into the valley. The foolish people of the city let out a battle cry, and charged towards the oncomers. Samukai chuckled, and said "Boo" the people, brave little humans they were, realized just what exactly the oncomers were, and turned around, running away faster than they had been charging.

{Go-ninja-ninja-go}

After receieving an alert that Ignacia was under some sort of attack, Kai had immediately gone into the shop to get armor and a weapon. He exited to find Nya, her ocean blue eyes wide with worry, staring out down into the valley "What are they?" she whispered, and Kai noticed with alarm that the vehicles were ignoring the people and racing towards the shop, and by extension the siblings.

"I don't know" Kai said. Taking a few steps forwards he added "Stay here" and lunged into battle, swinging his sword wildly. He had never had proper lessons, just enough to make sure he knew how to defend himself, and of course not end up taking off his own head. Decapitating a skulkin, he whipped around to fight another one, and then yelped when the head he had just severed bounced over to his foot and bit it. "OW!" he shouted, with a growl he added "Bite this!" before kicking the head down the mountain.

Turning around, Kai saw two skulkins clapping at his performance, and due to his angle, he was also able to see his sister, a staff in hand, sneak up on them, before attacking the duo and knocking them out of the fight. Kai blinked in surprise, before frowning "I thought I told you to stay back" he called, turning to block an attack.

Nya scoffed "And what? Let you have all the fun?"

{Go-ninja-ninja-go}

As the two humans fought the skulkin army, two skulkins separated from the group, and snuck into the shop. They were the two that had been in the drivers seat with Samukai, they entered the shop, and began searching. Looking around at the merchandise, the helmetless one, Cruncha, laughed at some of the armor, and failed sword attempts. "You're not looking hard enough" the helmeted one, Nuckal, shouted, throwing a helmet at Cruncha. "Ow" Cruncha whined, before picking the helmet back up and retaliating "You're not looking hard enough!"

As they continue to fight, they accidentally knock down one of the posts holding up the building's sign, and on the backside, a map was attached. Noticing it, both the generals shouting in unison "The Map!"

{Go-ninja-ninja-go}

As Kai and Nya continue to fight, Kai found himself staring down a larger skulkin than the others, its hands behind its back. Pointing his sword at it, Kai's glare hardened as he waited for it to make it's move.

When it did though, revealing four arms holding four knives, Kai's eyes widened and he muttered "oops"

The large skulkin laughed, and lunged for Kai, easily disarming the blacksmith and throwing him to the ground. Stalking over to him, and raising two of his arms, ready to deal a killing blow, A golden tornado appeared from nowhere, and knocked the Skulkin leader to his feet. From inside the tornado, an eerily familiar voice shouted "Ninja GO!" the tornado continued to attack the skeleton, while Kai just stared, before the gold faded away, to reveal...the old man!

Samukai got back up, and his beady eyes glared at the old man "Sensei Wu" he spat, before smiling wickedly "You're spinjitsu looks rusty"

Spin...what? Kai thought with confusion, trying to figure out how the old man knew the skeleton

"Nothing like bone to sharpen it's edge Samukai!" the old man...Sensei Wu called back. Kai arched an eyebrow, but flinched backwards when he noticed the Skulkin leader's dark gaze on him. He squeezed his eyes shut, but cracked one open in time to see the skeleton throw all four of his knives towards Wu, who dodged them easily. The knives embedded in the water tower's support beams, and the large structure began to collapse, falling directly towards Kai, who was too frozen to do anything other than whisper "oh no"

Wu, realizing the actual target, lunged forwards with a cry of "Ninja GO!" the golden tornado surrounding him once again as he picked up the red-head and whisked him to safety.

While they were distracted, Samukai took the map from his generals, and ran towards the trucks. But not before shouting a new order to his men "Lord Garmadon says take the girl!"

Sensei Wu, now on the other side of the hilltop, stared at him in horror "L...lord Garmadon?" he repeated, his odd golden eyes wide with horror

One of the Skulkins climbed the Buggy, and shot out a grappling hook shaped like a very large skeleton hand. The hand wrapped around Nya, before yanking her onboard. Once she was secured, every one of the vehicles whipped around and raced away, taking the skeleton army with them. "Nya!" Kai shouting, running a few steps after them, before halting and staring at the retreating forms.

"They took Nya" Kai whispered sadly, his flame colored eyes dimmed with sorrow.

"I told you" Wu said, walking over and hitting Kai on the head with his staff "Useless"

Kai's eyes flared as he whipped around, glaring at the man with a shout of anger "You could've done something! You could've used your...Twistitzu or your... "

"Spinjitsu" the old man corrected. Kai glowered at him, and pointed his sword's point at the man "But you did nothing"

Turning around, he began to walk away "I'm going to get my sister back" he said, determined to chop the head off of every Skulkin he crossed if necessary.

"Where they go" the old man began, causing Kai to turn in confusion "a mortal cannot" Kai arched an eyebrow. What was he blabbering on about now?

"That was Samukai" the elder explained "king of the Underworld. And if it's true that he's carrying orders for Lord Garmadon," he paused, and shook his head sadly "then I fear things are much worse than I ever thought. "

Kai stared at him incredulously before walking closer "Lord Garmadon?!" he questioned "Underworld?! What do we have that's so important to them and why would they take my sister?! " he growled out that last point, emphasizing the words take and sister with a stab of his sword at the air.

Sensei Wu scoffed " What's so important?" he asked, shaking his head again "How about everything in Ninjago itself?" Kai tilted his head as the old man continued...

"Long before time had a name, Ninjago was created by the First Spinjitsu Master, by using the Four Golden Weapons of Spinjitsu The Scythe of Quakes, the Nunchucks of Lightning, the Shruikens of Ice and the Sword of Fire!"

Kai frowned, whenever he had heard stories of Ninjago's founding, he had never heard of those weapons. "Weapons so powerful," Wu continued "no one can handle all of their power at once! When he passed away, his two sons swore to protect them, but the oldest was consumed by darkness and wanted to possess them." A sad twinge entered his golden eyes, and Kai tilted his head curiously. "A battle between brothers broke out and the oldest was struck down and banished to the Underworld." Wu sighed, and paused a moment, before continuing.

"Peace returned and the younger brother hid the weapons, but knowing his older brother's relentless ambition for power, he placed a guardian to protect them. And for fear of his own demise, a map for an honest man to hide." he gave Kai a pointed look now "That honest man was your father. The older brother is Lord Garmadon and I need to find those weapons before he does. " Kai sat down on a rock, trying to process everything. Fingering the sword, he looked up at the old man. "You're the younger brother" he said with understanding. Then with confusion he added "Then you came here looking for the map?"

Wu smiled kindly, and shook his head. "No. I came for something greater." he must have seen the confusion on Kai's face, so he clarified by tapping his staff against Kai's shoulders, as though he were knighting him. "You. Since my brother cannot enter his realm, it's obvious he has struck a deal with Samukai. If he were to collect all four weapons, even I would not be able to stop him again. But you, you have the fire inside. I will train you to harness it. Use it. To become a Spinjitzu Master. " Kai stared at the man. Trying to decide if he were insane, bonkers, delusional, or just flat out crazy. Sighing, Kai shook his head, and moved to leave " Look, I'm flattered to think I'm all that, but I gotta save my sister! I'm not getting involved in your sibling rivalry. " he called behind his back as he continued to walk away. At first, silence, and Kai though the old man would let him leave.

Then a hard force knocked him to the ground, and he rolled to find the man pinning him to the ground with his staff "Ha ha. Clunky bill! You are not even ready to face my pinky toe." he lifted his foot and wiggled his toes to emphasize. "If you want to get your sister back, you must control the fire that burns inside. Only when you become a Spinjitzu Master, will you be able to face...Lord Garmadon. " he stepped away once Kai had stopped struggling.

Kai sighed, and dropped his head to the ground, letting the helmet roll off "Fine" he grumbled. When do we start?

{Go-ninja-ninja-go}

The next day, Kai panted heavily as he climbed up the mountain that Wu told him would lead to where they needed to be. He glared at the old man who was easily scaling the mountain ridges. "Couldn't we have taken the stairs?" he called, but his question was ignored.

After finally, finally, making it to the top, Kai collapsed onto a rock, panting, his sides heaving as he drew in gasps of air "How long is this training going to take" he panted. Wu, not at all out of breath from the climb, paused and turned, pulling on part of his beard as he spoke "Patience" he said before hopping down from the rock he had been perched on "You will be ready when you are ready, not a moment sooner"

As the elderly man led Kai through the building's gates, Kai stared "A Monastery?" he asked, still slightly out of breath, though he was recovering quickly, "You expect me to learn how to fight in a place of peace?" he stared at the old man, who's golden eyes were glowing with humor. "Not fight." the old man corrected "Train. In order to become a true Ninja, first you must be able to see what others do not. "

Kai arched an eyebrow, and looked around, raising his hands to tug at his already spiked hair in frustration "But there's nothing here!?"

Wu used his staff to push a Dragon statue on a hinge, revealing a bright red button, which he pushed, causing several deadly training obstacles to rise from the earth.

Kai's eyes widened "Whoa" he breathed out, running over and jumping on top of one of the posts that had appeared, posing, he jumped around and asked "Is this gonna teach me to do that cool move?" He frowned, and looked down as the post lowered back down "hu-" his questioning phrase was cut off by the post lunging upwards, and tossing him into the air, crashing him into the ground.

Wu walked over to him, and sat on the steps, producing a teapot, sugarcubes, napkins, and a cup out of nowhere "Complete the training course before I finish my tea. Then we will see if you are ready." he quickly downed all of his tea, before looking at Kai, amusement in his gaze "Today you failed, tomorrow, we will try again"

Kai stared up at him, stunned "Fail? But I didn't even-" "Patience" the old man's voice sounded from inside the monastery walls as he entered and closed to door.

Kai growled, and clenched his fist. He had to do this...for Nya.

{Go-ninja-ninja-go}

Over the following, the routine continued, Kai would go through the course, but always fail.

Finally, one day, after nearly two weeks of training at the monastery, Kai walked up to the training course, wooden sword in hand like always, taking a deep breath, he began to go through the course. When he was about half way through, he dared a glance at Wu, and saw that he was about to drink the tea, Narrowing his eyes, Kai threw his sword, knocking the cup to the ground and spilling it's contents, before resuming the course. By the time Wu had retrieved the cup and poured more tea into it, Kai was leaning against a structural beam with a smirk on his face.

Picking up the bowl of Sugar Cubes, Kai grinned and said "Was that one sugar? Or two" Wu scoffed, but it held an impressed note. As the man rose, and began to enter the inner part of the building "So, when am I going to learn this Spinjitsu I've heard so much about?" Wu glanced back, a twinkle in his gaze as the elderly man said "You already have. You're final test is tomorrow" he closed the door as Kai stared at him, completely confused. Through the sliding door, Wu added "My advice, is to get some sleep"

{Go-ninja-ninja-go}

My advice, is to get some sleep

Wu's words rang in Kai's ears as he continued to get ready for bed. "Oh yeah" he muttered, mostly under his breath as he jabbed his toothbrush into the air, imagining it was a sword and he was fighting some mysterious foe. Unknowingly to Kai, three black garbed men had entered the building, and were making their way towards him. One clutched a scythe, one a pair of shurikens, and one a single nunchuck. "And this!" Kai added, emphasizing his jab with a spin kick "And this!" he whipped around, pointing the toothbrush at the corner...and discovered a pair of earthen brown eyes glaring at him from behind a raven mask

Kai stumbled back, and saw two other ninja in the room, one with ice blue eyes, and another with electrical blue eyes. His own flame colored eyes widening with realization, Kai muttered "Oh no..."

TO BE CONTINUED

Daanng...that was a finger workout XD Anyways, you may be shocked to hear this, but that was written about 70% from memory. The spoken lines are mostly from a transcript, but the script lacked a sort of 'what is going on during/in between lines' stuff, so I got to write those from memory! Fun~

Alright so, I really hope you all like the introduction to my new series, I hope to keep it going until I have the entire season done. Most of the things will be canon, but like it's stated above this is an AU and starting around that episode on the Dark Island when they gain the ability to use their powers without weapons, things are going to start to diverge, and once we hit Tournament of Elements and Possesion...well, it'll be more au than canon by that point. So have fun, and hang on tight!
~Savannah