A/N
Hello and welcome back to The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet: Stephaim Style. Thanks to IloveZimandNny16, 3TaylorSwiftFan3 (I love Taylor Swift too), and houseofnightfan for reviewing! To answer IloveZimandNny16's question/comment/concern (and I'm not offended), the scenes done will not switch on and off from the original to the FF. Also, they will be talking in modern English to all those concerned. Thanks for your support and reviews houseofnightfan and 3TaylorSwiftFan3! It really means a lot! Without further ado, I present the first scene of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet: Stephaim Style. But first, a disclaimer!
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own HON or R+J. It would be sooooooo cool if I did, but I don't.
~Smiley
Act 1, Scene 1
(curtain)
"I swear, I won't take it anymore. They keep shitting on us, and I won't take it," Sam Johnson complained to his brother Gregory as they walked through the streets of Verona.
"No, because then we'd be toilets," he teased, looking at the stands of the market.
"What I mean is, if they make us angry, we'll fight them," Sam explained, looking frustrated.
"Maybe you should focus more on pulling yourself out of trouble, Sampson," Gregory advised, adding Sam's full name to the end just to annoy him.
"I hit hard when I'm angry," Sam said.
"But it's hard to make you angry," Gregory added.
"Those bastard Raven Mockers make me angry," Sam said through clenched teeth.
"Angry enough to run away. You won't stand and fight," Gregory said.
"I'd fight one of those birds."
"The fight is between our father and Kalona."
"So? That means it's our fight too."
As he said the words, one of the sons of Kalona, who had come to be called Raven Mockers, rounded the corner with one of his friends.
"Get your knife out! Those guys are Raven Mockers!" Gregory whispered to Sam.
"My knife's out! Fight, I have your back," Sam answered instantaneously.
"How will you back me up—by turning your back and running away?" Gregory teased.
"Don't worry about me," Sam said.
"No, really. I am worried about you!" Gregory said sarcastically.
Ignoring the comment, Sam said, "Let's not get in trouble by starting a fight. We should let them start something."
"Fine, then. I'll make a face at them as they pass by, and they can react however they want."
"You mean however they dare. I'll take it a step further: I'll give them the finger. If they let me get away with that, then they're insulting themselves." Sam holds up his middle finger.
The Raven Mocker said, "Hey, are sticking your middle finger up at us?"
"I'm holding up my middle finger," Sam answered vaguely.
"Yes, but are you us giving us the finger?" he asked.
Sam leaned towards Gregory and whispered, "Is the law on our side if I say yes?"
"No!" Gregory whispered back.
Sam scratched his nose with his finger. "Then no, I am not holding up my middle finger at you, but I am holding up my middle finger."
"Are you trying to start a fight?" Gregory asked the Raven Mocker.
"Me? No, no," he answered, shaking his head.
"If you want to start a fight, I'm your man. My dad's as good as yours," Sam said.
"No better," the Raven Mocker agreed.
"Well then," Sam said.
Meanwhile, Nisroc walked through the market, and Gregory spied him.
"Say 'better.' Here comes one of his brothers," Gregory whispered to Sam.
"Yes, my father is better," Sam said to the Raven Mocker.
"You lie," he snarled.
"Pull out your knife if you're a man. Gregory, remember how to slash," Sam said, and, with that, they fought. Knife to knife, fist to fist, the four men battled each other in the once peaceful streets of Verona.
Seeing this, Nisroc pulled out his knife and said, "Break it up, you idiots! Put your knives away. You don't know what you're doing!"
Then, Danny Johnson rounded the corner and saw the fight, and Nisroc with his knife out. "What? You've pulled out your knife to fight with these boys? Turn around, Nisroc, and look at the man who's going to kill you."
"I'm only trying to break it up. Either put your knife away or use it to help me stop the fight."
"You pull out your knife and then talk about peace? I hate the word, as I hate hell, all Johnsons, and you. Fight me, coward!" Danny yelled and lunged at Nisroc.
Only trying to defend himself, Nisroc fought back. Then other citizens joined in, and soon the peaceful market crumbled to chaos.
Then John Johnson entered the scene with his wife, Virginia Johnson. "What's this? I need my long knife! Come on!" he shouted to a servant.
"You need a walking stick. Why are you asking for a knife?" Ginny asked while Kalona came with his current wife came to the chaotic market.
"I want my knife. Kalona is here, waving his knife around just to make me mad."
"Johnson! You bastard!" Kalona starts forward, but his wife holds him back. "Don't stop me; let me go."
"You're not taking one step toward an enemy." With the hand that wasn't on his arm, she rubbed her round stomach. However, Kalona steps away and joins the fight.
Fortunately, the fight didn't last much longer. Prince Escalus, the prince of Verona, soon comes onto the scene with his escort. Infuriated with what he was seeing, the Prince shouted, "You rebels! You enemies of peace! How dare you call yourselves men when you turn your weapons against your own neighbors. You there! You men—no beasts—who satisfy your anger with fountains of each other's blood! I will have you tortured if you do not lay down your weapons and listen to me!" The only sound was the clatters of knives and various other weapons against the street. "This is the third time riots have broken out in this city, all because of a casual word from you, old John and Kalona. Three times the peace have been disturbed in these fair streets of Verona, and the other citizens have had to get themselves dirty to part you fools. If you ever cause a fight on our streets again, your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace. You, Johnson, come with me. Kalona, this afternoon come to the court, and I'll tell you what else I want from you. As for the rest of you, I'll say this once more: go away or be put to death." With that, the prince, followed by Johnson, left, and the crowd departed as well.
Kalona turned to his second-eldest. "Who started this old fight up again? Were you here when it started?"
"Maion and his friend were fighting your enemy's sons, Sam and Gregory, I believe. I pulled out my knife to part them, but then that hotheaded Danny showed up with his knife ready. He taunted me and waved his weapon around, and as we were trading blows, more and more people joined the fight, until the Prince broke everyone up," Nisroc answered.
"Oh where's Rephaim?" Persephone, Kalona's wife, asked. She had always been particularly fond of Rephaim, just like Kalona. "Have you seen him today? I'm glad he wasn't here for this fight."
"Actually, I had a lot on my mind an hour before dawn this morning, so I went for a walk. Underneath the Sycamore grove on the west side of the city, I spotted and headed towards him. However, he saw me coming and hid in the woods. I figured he must be feeling the same way I was: wanting to be alone and tired of company. I assumed he was avoiding me, and I was perfectly happy to not search for a man who did not want to be found," Nisroc said, shrugging.
Kalona sighed. "He's been there many mornings, crying tears that only add drops to the morning dew and making a cloudy day cloudier with his sighs. But as soon as the sun rises, my sad son comes home to escape the light. He locks himself in his bedroom, closes his curtains to keep out the daylight, and makes himself an artificial night. His mood is only to bring bad news, unless someone can help him with whatever his bothering him."
"Why do you think he's so upset?" Nisroc asked.
"I don't know, and he refuses to tell me," Kalona said sadly.
"Have you tried everything you could to make him tell you the reason?" Nisroc asked, the gears of his mind turning.
"I have, and so have many of his friends and brothers, but he keeps his secret locked away, perhaps he's forgotten where he left the key. If only we could find out why he's sad; I'd be as eager to help him as I am to find out the reason for his sadness."
Over to the right, they see Rephaim walking, looking down and kicking the rocks on the pavement. "Here he comes," Nisroc said. "If you don't mind, Father, can you leave so I may talk to him alone. He'll either have to tell me what's wrong or tell me no over and over."
"I hope you're lucky enough to hear the true story by standing your ground. He may tell you, after all he's closer to you than any of his other brothers," Kalona said, then turned to his wife. "Come, my love, let's go."
Nisroc called, "Rephaim! Wait!" Rephaim looked back, and for a second he considered bolting, but he knew Nisroc would probably follow. So he leaned back against one of the walls of the alley and waited for Nisroc to catch up. "Good morning, brother," Nisroc greeted.
"Is it really still morning?" Rephaim asked.
"It's only nine o'clock," Nisroc answered.
"Oh," Rephaim said. "Time goes by so slow when you're sad. Was that Father who left in such a hurry?"
"Uh-huh. What's making you so sad and your hours so long?" Nisroc asked.
"I don't have the thing that makes time fly," Rephaim answered vaguely.
"You're in love?" Nisroc asked.
"Out," Rephaim corrected.
"Of love?" Nisroc asked.
"I love someone, but she doesn't love me."
"Upsetting. Love looks nice, but it's actually very cruel when you experience it."
"What's sad is that love is supposed to be blind, but it can still make you do whatever it wants. So, where should we eat?" That's when Rephaim spotted some blood on the street. "What the hell happened here? Another fight? No, don't tell me—I already know all about the fight and all that happened. It has a lot to do with hatred, but it has even more to do with love. Brawling love, loving hate, love that comes from nothing! Sad happiness, serious foolishness, beautiful things muddled together into a big ugly mess! Love is heavy and light, bright and dark, hot and cold, sick and healthy, asleep and awake—it's everything except what it is! This is the love I feel, though no one loves me back. Hey, are you laughing?"
"No, brother, I'm crying," Nisroc answered.
"Why are you crying?" Rephaim asked.
"I'm crying because of how sad you are," Nisroc said.
"I guess that's what love does. My sadness sits heavy in my chest, and you want to add your own sadness to mine so there's even more. I have far too much sadness to deal with already, and now you're going to make me sadder by feeling sorry for you. Love is a smoke made out of lover's sighs. When the smoke clears, love is a fire burning in your lover's eyes. If you frustrate love, you get an ocean made out of lover's tears. What else is love? It's a wise form of madness. It's a sweet lozenge that you choke on." Rephaim said, then added, "Good-bye, Nisroc," and turned away.
"Wait! I'll come with you. If you leave me like this, you're doing me wrong," Nisroc said.
"I'm not myself. I'm not here. This isn't Rephaim—he's gone to the place unloved lovers go."
"Tell me seriously, who is the one you're so in love with?" Nisroc asked.
"Seriously? You mean I should groan and tell you?" Rephaim said.
"Groan? No. But seriously, tell me who it is."
"You wouldn't tell a sick man he has to seriously make his will—it would just make him worse. Seriously, brother, I love a woman."
"I guessed that already when you said you were in love," Nisroc said, strolling the streets with Rephaim.
"Then you were right on target, and she is a beautiful woman," Rephaim said.
"A beautiful target is the one that gets hit the fastest," Nisroc stated.
"Well, you completely missed the target there. She refuses to be hit by Cupid's arrow. She's as clever as Diana, and shielded by the armor of chastity. She can't be touched by weak and childish arrows of love. She won't listen to words of love, or let you look at her with loving eyes, or anything further. She's rich in beauty, but she's also poor, because when she dies her beauty will be destroyed with her."
"So she's made a vow to be a virgin forever?" Nisroc concluded.
"Yes, she has," Rephaim answered sadly, "and by doing that, she wastes her beauty. If you're vowed to be forever chased you can't have children, and so your beauty is lost to future generations. She's too beautiful and too wise to deserve heaven's blessing by making me despair." Rephaim sighed. "She's sworn off love, and that promise has left me alive but dead, and only left me alive to talk about it now."
"Here's some simple advice: don't think about her," Nisroc said.
"That's not so simple. Teach me to forget to think!" Rephaim said.
"Do it by letting your eyes wander freely. Look at all the other beautiful girls in this city," Nisroc said, smiling and waving at some girls by a wall, who blushed and giggled.
"That will only make me think more about how beautiful she is. A man who goes blind can't forget the precious eyesight he lost. Show me a really beautiful girl. Her beauty is like a note telling me where I can see someone even more beautiful. Good-bye, Nisroc. Not even you can teach me to forget." Rephaim said, walking away.
"I'll show you how to forget, or else I'll die owing you that lesson," Nisroc called after him.
(and scene)
A/N
If you liked it, review! If you hated it, review! Please, please, pretty please review!
Btw, if anyone wants to read the original R+J with a complete translation, type "no fear shakespeare romeo and juliet" into the google search engine and click on the first link (the actual web address wasn't showing up, sorry). It's a great website, and it's helped me a lot both in school and with this FF. On one side, it has the original, and on the other, it has it all in modern day English. So, to all those interested, go to that website. I heart it!
~Smiley