Hi, everyone. :P I have never made a FanFiction before, but I'm gonna make one today based on the fact that we're reading "romeo and juliet" in my English class, and I got really inspired to do one for my favorite TV series, "Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu" for Jay and Nya. But it's NOTHING like R&J, just pretty much following part of the plot line and titles for the characters. Which you should also know that the Ninjago characters aren't , per se, exactly as they are in the show...I.E,Zane is Jay's cousin. So. Yeah.

Many thanks to my best friend Kairi (who you may know as KairiVenomus, author of NIGHTMARE FOR A NINJA awesomey series I encourage you to read) b.c she helped me edit it and put my sentences together and stuff. So. :)

"Act One"

In the distance settles the sun upon the peak of the blacksmith's port as the callow owner begins to close up shop for the night. The day has been long, tedious, for he's been tending to plenty of customers in just one small day. There weren't enough hours given to humanity to serve all who breathed a demand for metals so fine they could cut sharply through even the toughest of wheats. Forging weapons and crop-cutters of the perfect painful bite was difficult to do with so many orders. The young boy, not a day over seventeen, holding up his father's broken shop on his own with his shoulders, didn't know if he'd be able to supply every request. He sighed heavily as he untied his dirtied apron from his waist. Sunfall would soon arrive, leaving him to blow out the candles with a lonely sigh. Out the front door he glimpsed the green hills rolling for miles as one could see. They extended over top each other as they reached for the sky, racing to touch the clouds with their arched peaks. He gave another intake of mourning breath. It had been an extension of a couple years now since his father passed away, leaving him to run the dying shop, Four Weapons, alone. He had nothing yet to be excited over. Though the boy grieved, he still hoped for adventure so marvelous it would sweep him off his feet and carry him miles past Verona's village lines. How he longed to experience the world!

But pay was scanty in numbers, and nothing he had saved for two years could even bring him to the city gate. The boy wandered to the glass jar he kept to defend his small coins. It was extremely depressing to be able to shake the jar and have what he'd gathered in a day roll around the length of the bottle's circular base. There was no resistence from opposing coins. Just unstoppable rolling. With a groan, the boy set it aside. Tomorrow will be a better day, he promised himself like every other night. He'd fall asleep tonight with gentle prayers that God would listen and give him holy peace.

The boy returned to his coals inside of their large container where he usually forged the weapons everyone demanded. He watched their fiery substances for brief moments before deciding it was pointless to yearn. He'd never be able to move past these doors. Just as he started to dampen the lanterns into silence, though, he heard his name called from beyond the doors he'd just glared at. Expectantly, the boy turned, caught between his forging station and the bucket of cooling water, hearing his name mixed with plenty of other indecipherable words. Up the stone path ran a small cloaked figure. He raised his eyebrow. Looks like he would have to turn away yet another customer who seemed to be illiterate and couldn't read the closed sign on his door.

He set down the swords he'd plucked from the cooling bucket to wander towards the entrance. Who had infiltrated his property was no girl younger than he, blossoming, pretty. The face shaded beneath her hood wore a pair of bright blue eyes, thick black lashes, and deep chesnut hair falling to her shoulders. She clutched the throat of her red cloak's clasp. "Sir Kai," panted the girl. "Sir, I have..." Her sentence remained unfinished by her heavy breathing.

Kai, the young boy, raised his eyebrows further upwards. "Sorry, miss," he said quietly, patting the wooden frame of his doorway. "But it's closing time. You'll have to return tomorrow."

As he made to turn away, the young girl grabbed his wrist, pressing hard with her thumb to the middle of his palm. He frowned at her blatancy. Her grip was surprisingly ferocious. Kai didn't want to waste any time more on this girl, so he yanked his hand from her grasp. Yet she wasn't about to just bear his ignorance. "Sir," she said again. The girl stared up at him. Like there was a chill, she drew her hood closer. "I am not here to ask of you a fine blade," she panted. "I come to ask of you a simple question. I know not how to read," admitted the girl, "but I must find the owners of the names on this scroll my master has given me." She produced a paper cylindar from her cloak, unrolling its relic-like crinkles to hold to him. "If you would be so kind as to just spare me a few breaths of your life to recite these names, I'd be most grateful," she whispered.

Kai glanced downwards at the elegant symbols of names written across the paper she offered. But he hesitated, unsure if he should do such a kindness. The girl, it seemed, was on a mission to please her employer, but whomever this employer was didn't seem to have anything to do with him. Kai glanced over her stout head down the brick path she'd taken to reach him. Should he? Did he want to?

More better a query: Why was he wasting time considering?

With a grumble, Kai snatched the paper from the girl's hands. "And for whom am I reading this to?" He inquired. A sly glance out the corner of his eye at the shaded girl told him more than he'd seen upon first glance. Beneath the wrap of her cloak, he glimpsed two thick, black bracelets matching her wrists. With a start, Kai realized that this girl was a slave to whomever this "master" was - and a young slave, at that. He gave an uncomfortable squirm.

"You read this for Meido Tokimi, slave of Lord and Lady Aka, proud parents of Nya Aka," recited the girl as though she read from a card. Kai raised his brow.

"You work for the Aka family, huh?" Kai asked, glancing down at the scroll. A title across the top told him the paper he read from was actually a guest list for the all-powerful Aka family's celebration of their daughter's birthday. It was hard for him to decide whether or not to scoff or laugh. So a maid of the Akas was trying to get him to read it, make up for her insufferable illiteracy? The Aka family was dreadfully obnoxious, Kai had found over the course of his life. Flaunting their riches like one flaunts beauty they trolled the town holding their chins above their heads and pointing their swords at people. Once upon a time Kai had come to sorts with a couple of them disgracing Four Weapons with their poorly crafted blades. They claimed to have the finest blacksmith create everything they used for stabbing and duels, but Kai could easily see through the mist. Those blades were nothing above as harmful as a toothpick. The one who liked to pester on the poor was named...Oh, what was his name? Kai pursed his lips. Oh, yes, he recalled, the argumental one was named Cole. He was dreadfully sure of his abilities to gouge eyes out, that stood surely. Kai found that this banterer liked to peer on his shop with a keen sense of smell for the weak. This extension of ego was plenty available throughout the rest of the Aka's bloodline. Their inability to see the good in those below them clouded their vision.

This was not to mention their feud with their eternal enemies, the Ao. Kai shivered. The battle between the Aka and the Ao moved past any war he'd ever seen; bloodbaths happened more in the incident of small tiffs between these two than it appeared more with executions, public and secret. He had no clue as to why the two families couldn't have peace with each other, but there was no stopping them when they came face to face and had access to weapons. Hatred was as common between them as, well, grass in a field. Public spectacles were often made because they couldn't be in the same area with each other without at least trying to win over dominance. He didn't like the way it clouded Verona's true beauty. He didn't like it at all.

But, the maid was still lingering, and frankly she was starting to creep him out. Kai looked at the list of guests and decided it better to read them so she'd scram quicker. "'In the instance of our daughter's fourteenth birthday,'" he read boredly, "thou shalt be invited to a celebration...Blah, blah, blah...Male suitors are asked to attend in competition for my daughter's hand in marriage...Mario Santrers, Candice Masonwood, Shing Tanaka, Megumi Aka, Misako and Friar Garmadon..." The list continued further for another column before he finally reached the end note, marked with a thick dab of black paint to remind of its importance: "Do not invite any of the Ao family, or thou wilt be sentenced to..." He raised his brow at the promise of death. The maid looked at him expectantly.

"To what, sir?"

"Uh..." Kai held out the paper. "I just wouldn't invite any Ao, if I were you."

The maid snatched it excitedly, bursting with anticipation. She nodded enthusiastically towards him. "Thank you, kind sir! For your generosity I hereby give you permission to attend this fine gathering tonight at the hour of nine, as long as thou doesn't commit problems for Lord Aka to clean up. How angry he'd be! Thank you, sir, a thousand times thank you!" The young girl whirled on her heel, scurrying off the dark path in the dimming twilight. Over the crescent of the hills, the sun just began to disappear. Kai scratched his head in confusion. That was definitely extremely strange. He didn't know why she'd offer him a position to appear at Lord Aka's birthday party for his little girl. Besides, he didn't even find Nya Aka all that appealing as the scroll had made her to be. He shook his head. He was ready to go to bed - but some other people had some better ideas.

"So are we going or what?"

Kai whirled to find the slender blue shape of none other than a frequent trespasser into his property hiding in the middle of his shop. Jay Ao poised his hands irritably to his hips, where his belt dangled low with the heave of his fat blade. He was dressed traditionally as the Ao family liked to flaunt themselves, with exceptionally bright blue overcoats and matching scarves of different shades. His black boots met his knees in leather. His deep red hair fell into his eyes, which therefore hid that ugly deformed eyebrow of his he always complained about. Kai rolled his eyes to the stupidity of who he could safely call his best friend.

"Definitely not," Kai returned into the shop, pulling shut the doors behind him. This time, if anyone knocked, he was for sure kicking them out. The Shoji doors left small squares of moonlight on his dirty rock floor. Kai produced the broom hiding in the back corner behind all of his forgery junk to push away dirt. Jay watched him incredulously.

"Why not? It would be a pretty neat opportunity to crash the party, don't you think?" Jay was famous for his arguments that somehow Kai always allowed him to win. It was safe to say the two had been friends for a long time, though under forbidden circumstances. His parents, Lord and Lady Ao, surely disproved of their son associating with an undesireable as Kai was. There hardly was sympathy given to the poor, under the hand of the rich. He hated the idea that there was such great segregation in such a beautiful place. Verona is no land for feuds, he thought in a whisper. Kai pushed away a heap of sand through a crack he made in the shoji doors.

"Uh, because I don't want to? Go by yourself," Kai said, slapping his broom to the ground outside. The sun was gone.

"Why not?" Jay repeated. He peered into the cooling bucket with a frown. The Ao son was also famous for his record of never having lifted a laborious finger in his life. Though Kai had tried to teach him plenty of times why you needed to cool the metal for forging, there just wasn't a part of the young, rich son's brain that comprehended physical labor well. He stuck his hand into the water. It stirred his reflection. He removed his hand and, with a glance between the liquid and his friend, flicked the water into Kai's face.

"Ugh!" Kai recoiled. He drug his hand down his wet skin. After drying himself, Kai glared at Jay with fire in his eyes. "I just answered that question. Now, don't you dare - "

Too late. Kai dropped the broom to wipe away the droplets on his face again. Irritably, he picked up the discarded cleaning utensil and smacked Jay in the back of the head with it. His friend's head fell with the impact. Rubbing his sore spot, Jay grabbed his sword from its expensive sheath, pointing it at Kai with a threatening glare. The blacksmith's son didn't find anything intimidating about it, though. He smacked aside the blade with a gloved hand. "Knock it off, Jay. I'm tired."

"You heard the midget!" Jay argued as Kai replaced the broom. "She said that no Ao were allowed. Which makes it a great idea for me to go!"

"Or a great way to add to your list of Ways to Get Thrown in Jail," Kai argued.

But Jay just wouldn't give up, following Kai into the back door leading upstairs with his boots trekking more dirt on the floor he'd just swept. Kai sighed heavily and ascended the stairs. "How can you be tired?" Jay questioned. "You haven't done anything today."

"Uh, yes, I have," snapped Kai irritably. He lit the lantern at the top of the steps. "I've been making weapons right and left. I'm beat." He motioned to the small bed underneath the square of moonlight coming from the window. The upstairs didn't have multiple rooms, just one with everything in it, including the kitchen. "Now, either make yourself useful and find me more lanterns or go pedal your insults somewhere else."

Jay grumbled behind him but moved in search of the next lantern. Kai was just able to remove his shoes when Jay made his next statement. "You're so stressed. You need to relax."

Kai rolled his eyes, walking to the trunk by his bed. He could only see its square shape in the darkness. Ugh, what was taking Jay so long? He could see the figure of the royal mouth of lightning searching through the dark for the gas lamp. "Exactly," Kai said, "which is why you need to leave and I need to go to sleep. I have work tomorrow."

Jay gave a sharp laugh. Kai impatiently tapped his foot on the floor. Find it, you idiot, he thought. "Sure! So take the day off!"

"It's not that easy," Kai argued, but Jay spoke over him.

"I'll lend you something to replace your rags," Jay continued. "You won't look like you were just dragged through a canyon by your pointy hair. You can take a bath at my place. Meido Clementine is really good at getting off all the dirt. Then, we can take my carriage there. Or, I guess, if you wanna build up leg muscles, we can walk, too. Aha!" There was the sharp drag of a match, and the room was partially lit. Jay's features were outlined by the flames. His features became defined by shadow. Kai raised his brow at his friend.

"Why do you want to go so bad?" He asked.

"So I can go crash the party!" He exclaimed. "I wanna show those Aka suckers who is boss!"

Kai sighed. "So not you."

"Ha! Says the guy who has never been bathed by Clementine! Have you ever actually touched real silk?" Jay poised his hands to his hips. "Once in a lifetime opportunity, little blacksmith! You're passing it up awful foolishly!"

Kai kicked the trunk. Pain shot up his foot, as well as the anger inside him. "It's not my fault I'm not so rich I can be bathed by women or touch fine materials," he growled, "and it's not my fault that I actually have to work to make a living. All you care about is proving your dominance to those stupid Aka idiots. I care about staying alive. Now, I think you've done your part enough, Jay. Go home."

Jay raised his chin defiantly. "No."

Kai rolled his eyes for the hundredth time. "Forget it," he mumbled, and fell into an exhausted heap on his bed. The cushion reaction equaled zero. It was like falling on a rock. Miserably, Kai moaned, rubbing his stiff back of their sore muscles. Why, oh why, couldn't this just be a peaceful way to fall alseep? He'd have less trouble falling asleep on the floor than he would his actual bed. He rubbed his hands over his face.

Jay stood above him when he peeked through his fingers. "Go. Away." Kai moaned, and grabbed his pillow. He stuffed it into his own face, but the dust fell off it onto his tongue. He chucked it aside, coughing. Spluttering, he sat up, spitting out the dirt from his lips. Jay watched with his arms over his chest.

"Still gonna tell me no to that bath?" He asked.

Kai wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He ran his fingers through his hair. He could still taste the awful dust clinging to his taste buds. "You know that if you start a fight, Prince Lloyd will kill you, right? Remember the threat of execution last week?"

But Jay batted his hand at the mention of the Prince of Verona. "Pff! He'll never get to know. I'll have slaughtered all the Aka bloodline before he can get to me."

Kai smirked although he tried not to. "Oh, yeah? You and what army, hotshot?"

Jay pursed his lips, fists on his hips. He thought for a moment. "I'll recruit my cousin Zane," he decided. Kai burst into laughter at the thought of that being Jay's army. Though he was sure Jay knew it, Kai knew that Zane Ao was against violence, and never threateningly harmed anyone ever. Getting the gentle, subtle boy (who'd never even hurt so much as an ant) to come to Jay's side would definitely be an arguement he'd love to see. But he paused a minute.

"Well..." He took a deep breath, looking out the window. The sky was dark. "You do that."

"So? You in? Are we going to go give Nya Aka a real happy birthday or what?"

Kai raised his eyes to Jay's. His friend looked excited and, at most, extremely determined. His mouth was curved into a smile that told Kai that he already knew he'd won. The blacksmith didn't know what it was that made Jay win their fights every time, but it was always the Ao son that came out on top. Was it his completely stupid, persuasive arguments? Or was it just that Kai didn't feel like fighting with him constantly, so gave in to shut Jay up? He had a feeling that this time, whatever choice he made was going to be one that changed his life forever. Rubbing his sore wrists, Kai took a deep breath. His overused muscles ached horribly. He was a petty blacksmith, an undesirable in Verona - about to make a deal with one of the richest young men to ever exist. Jay Ao cocked his head impatiently. "Well?" He pressed.

Kai looked out the window again. Then he met Jay's eyes defeatedly. "Alright, when are we going?"

Jay's mouth spread into a wide, crooked grin. He punched the air. "Yes! Booyah!" He did a little victory dance, swinging his hips so ridiculously that Kai had to laugh. The exhausted tension was gone. "We leave," Jay announced after he finished, holding out his hand to the window, "immediately. I'll let Clementine know you personally requested her services."

So that's the first chapter. :) Please review!