Authors Note: Well, the muse must be willing, because here I am with another story. I was trying to think of ideas for a totally different project, and somehow this worked its way into my mind. This is just my personal idea of what Zen is. I'm not sure if it's the actual definition, but it's what I believe it is. I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Medabots, but boy would I love to own Rokusho and Medabee (no matter how much he'd like to be 'his own Medabot'). But I don't own them. Alas, and alack.
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(Gettin' My Zen On)
He stared at the river that runs so peacefully through town. 'How tranquil this river is… it runs along in relative quiet, bringing life to the land. It has a certain purpose: To give life, and if need be, to take away.' Small fish swam along, totally oblivious to the stag beetle Medabot watching them. Rokusho gave a small sigh as the fish went along their way.
"Rokusho! HEY!!!"
Rokusho would have rolled his optics if he didn't have any manners. Medabee never failed to make a huge entrance, or make his presence known. So instead of rolling his 'eyes', he turned his head to look at the hot-headed young Medabot sliding down the hill towards his tree. "Hello, Medabee. Can I help you with something?"
"Yea, actually. Ikki's in school right now and I'm bored." Medabee suddenly looked at the ground and muttered something. Rokusho looked at him patiently, "And?"
"And he said I need to talk to you about something called 'Zen'. Said it might help in robattles."
Rokusho couldn't help but chuckle. He sincerely doubted that was the main reason Ikki sent Medabee to him. An attempt at peace and quiet or better obedience were much more likely, but the only way he could get the bot to go probably was to mention a robattles. Rokusho jumped down from his tree and landed in front of Medabee. "Look at the river. What do you see?" Medabee appeared to consider this for a moment. After all, he knew the other was good at saying deep insightful things.
"Uhh… water, a bunch of rocks, some little fish, and water." Medabee shivered at the word 'water' both times.
"Mmm… I see a busy ecosystem, teeming with all kinds of creatures. Life there is fragile, as it is everywhere. If one link is destroyed, everything shall suffer."
"Woah."
"Indeed. All things must be at peace for the intricate relationships to work."
Medabee sat in relative silence after that, until, "So what's Zen?" Rokusho blinked and looked right into Medabee's eyes, "Peace. Zen is being one with everything to know your place. There are many ways to practice this, but I prefer thought. I wish to preserve life in all its forms."
Another moment of quiet followed, "I'm not very good at this Zen thing, am I?"
Rokusho smiled at the other bot, "There's room for improvement. But you're not bad at it. The fact we're even holding this conversation now is because you're exercising patience."
"Is that a challenge?"
"More of a statement of fact. Next time you robattles, observe the whole situation. It will serve you well in life, too."
"You're a smart bot, dude. I mean, you're the only one I know who can talk about peace and fighting and make it all seem really cool."
Rokusho tilted his head towards his tree again, "I'm surprised you understood it the first time."
"Ik ik ik ik ik!!! WOAH, hold on! What's that supposed to mean!?!"
"You just seemed really confused when you showed up."
"Oh. You sure that's all? I'd hate to have to give you a Medabee-boppin' right now. I'm gettin' my Zen on here."
Rokusho stood suddenly and turned to the direction of the street, "Someone's watching us."
That grabbed Medabee's attention pretty well, "Where at?"
"I lost track of them when that car drove by."
"Oh. Well dude, I'm gonna go to school now. I like to sit outside in the tree by Ikki's classroom and lear—I mean make sure he doesn't get into any trouble."
Rokusho smiled inwardly, "Farewell then. I'm glad we had this talk."
"Yea. Maybe we should do this again sometime?"
Rokusho just nodded and looked back to the street, "Hmm…" He heard Medabee start to walk away and smiled again. 'But I wonder who was watching us…"
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Henry walked back into the shop where he worked and resumed his position behind the counted, 'If Medabee keeps going to Rokusho for advice, he'll be pretty close to unstoppable someday I bet.' He thought for a bit more, 'Maybe that rare medal of his is safer than I thought.'
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After school, Medabee and Ikki were walking home together by the river when the yellow bot suddenly stopped.
"What's the matter, Medabee?"
"What do you see down there?"
Ikki looked at his companion confused, "Uhh… a river?"
To this, Medabee just nodded sagely and replied, "I see another world, living in peace."
And up in the tree above them, a pair of glimmering red optics smiled down on them.
(The end)
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