Endangered | Ninjago Jaya AU [Complete]

°.•✮☽Prologue☾✮•.°

Moonlight reflected on the horizon ahead, however dimmer than before.

The thought-to-be-abandoned town of Stiix was anything but abandoned at night. Legends of monsters would spread around the surrounding towns and villages, yet nobody dared to step into the haunted docks.

Well, almost nobody.

"No fair! Why do you get to swim at night?" the blond boy pouted, his hair and skin turning pure black as small horns sprouted from his forehead. His already red eyes glowing in anger, he stared at the water intensely with a frown.

As the water moved, a figure came to the surface, splashing water on his face and causing his form to return to normal.

The young woman in the water swished her red fish-tail around as she swam closer towards him, her hands crossed on the edge of the docks.

"Because you don't know how to swim yet and I'm a fish person," she said, a teasing smile on her lips as she ruffled the young boy's locks.

He crossed his arms, pointing his finger accusingly at yet another figure ahead. "Then what's he doing here?"

The ravenette's gaze turned to the shores ahead, spotting a large, black wolf shaking off its wet fur.

As it heard the two, the wolf raised it's ears, running over to them as his form slowly changed with every step. From four legs he walked on two, his figure changing into a muscular, tan, young man in the process.

Despite his human form, the wolf ears and tail remained on his body.

He towered over the boy, ruffling hair as well. "Can't I just go for a swim without you bugging me?"

The girl chuckled. "Come on, Cole, leave him alone. He's just messing with ya."

"Well, we can't all be 'little-miss-perfect-vampire-mermaids' here now, can we?" the boy stuck his tongue out to her, but she only rolled her eyes.

"I'll be going out for a late-night snack. You coming, Lloyd?" Cole told him, but he shook his head. He turned to the girl. "Nya?"

"Just give me a sec," she said. "You can call Kai and Zane if you want to."

"On it. See ya later, kiddo." As he ran away, his wolf form returning, Lloyd frowned. When he turned back to the water, Nya had already disappeared deep beneath the waves.

He sighed.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

"Yeah, I'm the little one. Not the werewolf, but the Oni. Yeah, sure," he whispered to himself with a pouted lip, kicking the surrounding pebbles as hard as he could.

He had arrived at the very end of the town by then, yet, strangely enough, not a soul was roaming around.

He looked at the rusty, worn-out sign; "welcome to Stiix," it read in big, bold letters.

A smirk crept across his face as he looked at the forest beyond the closed gates.

"I'll show them who's the little one."

Pulling down his black cloak, he reverted back to his previous form, his black skin and thin horns blending in with the darkness.

Slowly, he climbed up the gate, finally jumping to the other side.

Looking further into the woods, it was quiet. Unusually quiet.

His glowing, red eyes illuminating his path, he gulped with every step he took.

"It's okay, Lloyd. You can do this," he told himself as the gate kept getting further and further away.

When he heard footsteps, he froze.

He looked around, yet no one was there.

"Oh, who am I kidding of? I should head back," his voice lowered as he took a deep breath, ready to make a swift turn—

"Hey!" he kicked in the air as he was picked up, his eyes flaming an even brighter red than before.

The man holding him covered his mouth, his yells becoming muffled under his touch.

"We haven't gotten one of these in a while, huh?" said another man, coming out of the shadows as he put on his red, straw hat. "You won't be going anywhere, little man," he said, spitting out the cigar in his mouth as he came to wrap metal chains around Lloyd's wrists.

"I... I'm not... little..." he tried to fight the feeling, but his eyelids slowly started to become heavier by the second.

Soon enough, he drifted to sleep.

"I hear Oni horns sell for a good price," the man said to his companion, who held the boy over his shoulder.

"Let's focus on taking him back first. We need to keep him in check till next week until the deal, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember," he said. "Make sure the little brat doesn't go anywhere till then. We've got a big road ahead of us."

The other man turned around, looking back towards the foggy path. "Wanna check out Stiix while we're here? Saunders said he's heard rumours of a sea monster near the docks."

"Do I look ready to step into a boat? One thing at a time, Clutch."

"Whatever, Ronin," he rolled his eyes. "Your loss."

A/N

What do you think these three are up to? 👀

C ya!