Hey guys! This story just got into my head and I think it would make a pretty cool story. So what if the ninja weren't the ninja. What if Kai, Cole, Zane, Jay, Lloyd and Nya never became the ninja, never saved Ninjago City, never met Sensei Wu, never found their true potentials? What if they were just normal? So this is a story all about what the ninjas' lives would be like if they never became ninja. I'd rather stick to canon as much as I can, but if you guys would like to see it divert from canon, it will. Just let me know in your reviews. We will still have the six ninja, the samurai X, etc, but they won't be Kai, Cole, Jay, Zane, Lloyd, Nya or Pixal. Our heroes won't be theirs. I'm going to stick to canon ships and relationships though, like Nya and Kai will still be siblings, Jay and Nya will date, Kai and Skylor will date, Zane and Pixal, etc. Don't worry, I'm not leaving them out! Anyway, this has done on for long enough, and my rambling isn't what you guys are here for, so here's the first chapter!
Enjoy!
We aren't heroes.
Chapter 1
Kai
Kai Smith had always loved superhero stories. He had read them for as long as he could remember. He had always dreamed of one day becoming a hero, of protecting Ninjago. He would fly about with a long red cape, shooting flames from his hands at villains who tried to take over his homeland. They would cripple at the heat of his fire, and they would flee, or else they would perish. Monsters with large tentacles would reach for him, destroying buildings, but he would dodge the blows, saving people from the falling houses as he went. He was strong, able to carry five people at once, and his eyes would fire burning orange lasers at his opponents. Girls would fling themselves at him, and he would chuckle to himself as he jumped high into the air and soared over the city, through the bright blue sky, under and over clouds. Everyone would love him.
However, Kai's childhood was very different. He lived in a small village in the countryside of Ninjago, called Ignacia. He had his parents, Ray and Maya, and his younger sister, Nya. His father worked in the family's blacksmith's shop, the Four Weapons. The shop didn't gain the family much money, but Kai didn't mind. He was used to being a poor child with few luxuries, and if anything, he enjoyed the simple, humble life he led.
One morning, when Kai was fourteen, he woke to another normal day. His parents left early that morning on a journey into the mountains, a yearly tradition that Kai and Nya were too young to come on, a tradition that had been passed down in their family. Neither of the two siblings knew what their parents found every year in those mountains that convinced them to continue the yearly tradition, but he would find out in a year or two, according to his father. His parents' absence left him in charge of the shop, with Nya under his control. Or so he liked to think. The day went by as usual, the shop being quiet, and the two siblings mainly just played board games in the main house, though Kai always kept an eye and ear out for anyone on their way to the shop, whether they were his parents or just customers. Ray and Maya returned at sunset, finding their children closing up the blacksmith's shop. Smiling, the younger and older twos greeted each other again, and the parents followed their children into their house. Like they did every year, Kai and Nya had waited to have dinner so they could eat with their parents. As they ate, Ray spoke, breaking the silence.
"Did you two hear about the boy and his sister who live over the hill to us?" He asked his two children, both of whom shook their heads.
"The ones whose parents disappeared about a decade ago? The ones who are the same age as us?" Nya asked her father. In response, he nodded.
"Yes. They were supposedly visited by a strange old man today. He told the boy that he had some kind of power and the two followed that old man out of Ignacia. Fools. Some people are so desperate to believe they're special." Ray replied. "I'm just glad it wasn't you two." Kai and Nya agreed with their father, and Maya nodded. Kai's mind was plagued with thoughts - Who was that old man? Where could he have taken those kids? What kind of power did that boy supposedly have? Do I have any powers? Will I be visited by some strange old man and taken away when my parents aren't here? - but he tried his best to conceal them. The rest of the meal went without incident, and conversation died down into silence again. After dinner, Kai and Nya washed and dried the dishes, letting their parents go to bed early after their long, tiring journey. Nya seemed to be able to read Kai's thoughts, and she glared intensely at him from his left side where she was drying up the dishes.
"I know what you're thinking, but it's not our problem. We just need to be on the lookout for any strange old men in Ignacia. For all we know, he might come back soon." She warned Kai, and he nodded miserably. He hated being told off by his younger sister. She was always the voice of reason.
Jay
Jay Walker was a junkyard boy, and he hated it. For most of his childhood, he had felt okay about living in a junkyard, but in his final year of primary school, word had got out about where he lived, and even his friends turned against him, bullying him wherever he went. So he never went out on weekends, preferring to stay in the safety of his home. His parents, Ed and Edna Walker, tried to get him to leave the yard occasionally, but he would always refuse. He could never tell them why, though, and it ate him alive, consuming all of his time and thoughts. He hated school because of how bad he was treated there. Oh well, his jokes were more appreciated at home anyway. Besides, he had made many more good memories on his homeland, such as his first invention, a small fan. He had found all of the pieces and asked his father to help him wire it. They had been successful, but Jay had misplaced his fan a few months later. Also, he had the memories of all of the home videos, no matter how embarrassing they were. He had learned many things in the junkyard, things school couldn't teach him, and he was glad he grew up where he did.
Until he heard of a strange old man appearing to a different junkyard boy who lived nearby. The boy was Jay's age, and had run into the city to test an invention of his - a glider - but it had failed and he crashed into a billboard. Jay was relieved hat it wasn't him, but he doubted that he would have left with the man anyway; his parents had instilled a fear of strangers into him at a young age, telling him tales of abductions and kidnappers and other people who did bad things to kids his age. Rumour had it that the boy had been told that he had some sort of power, and Jay wondered who would be that gullible. Fool.
Cole
Cole Brookstone was a dancer. At least, that's what his father said. He had hated the idea of prancing about on stage ever since he was a child, but he never had the heart to say so. Cole hated upsetting people, and he always tried to follow what they wanted him to do. His father, Lou, was one of the Royal Blacksmiths, one of the most famous quarters in the whole of Ninjago. Cole didn't understand how his father enjoyed throwing himself about on a stage in front of loads of people and singing about things he'd never experienced, but Cole never said anything. His town was full of dancers and their kids, who also aspired to go into the music industry, and Cole had always felt left out, different. But he like being different. He had friends, sure, but none of them knew the real him. And Cole liked it that way. If no one knew who he really was, no one could tell his dad that he'd been lying his whole life.
Cole was attending the Martha Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts, or MOSPA as Cole liked to call it, much to the annoyance of his father, and Cole hated it there. He couldn't sing or dance, and he couldn't see the point of either of them. He didn't see himself in the music industry when he was older, but his fear of upsetting his father held him back from confessing his hatred of his life. So Cole kept singing, kept dancing. He was part of a quartet at school, and he hated all three of his band mates. Every school day was eight hours of torture. But at least the wall home had its perks - he would finally be alone.
Zane
Zane was alone. He had always been alone. For as long as he remembered at least. Which honestly wasn't even that long. Zane couldn't remember his childhood, only his name. Zane Julien. He thought he remembered an old man with grey hair and glasses, who told Zane that he loved him, but it always turned out to be a dream. No one loved Zane. He didn't know anybody. He didn't have anyone to love.
Word of Zane's amnesia always follows him around from village to village, and he gets sympathy and strange looks from passing citizens. Zane liked to test himself, however, so tried to not pay attention on them, instead focusing on his tests. He would see how long he could hold his breath underwater, he would see how long he could remain in a freezer without freezing, he would see how long he could hold his hand near a flame for before he got burned. Sure, some of his tests ended in pain, but it was all about testing his own body's limits. Nothing else. He didn't want to see himself bleed, he didn't want to feel himself hurt, he didn't want to hear himself crying or hiss sharply when wincing, but he did. Sometimes life is unpleasant, and we just have to deal with it. Zane was simple, and his life was the same. When he wasn't travelling anyway.
Maybe, if he found the right place, he would remember. He might remember his childhood home, he might recall his parents' names, their faces. He might remember friends, or other extended family. Maybe he had siblings? Or was he, truly, all alone? That seemed more likely.