Trapped: Chapter 2

Meditation

"That was a brilliant idea." Zachery said sarcastically on their way back to the dojo.

"What?" Robin asked cluelessly.

"Why would you tell him we're ninja? Why would you accept his dinner invitation? We don't know him." Zachery questioned.

"Because people should know how awesome I am, and who can resist fine dining at a mansion." Robin said putting emphasis on mansion.

"We're supposed to be secret."

"If we live the rest of lives in secret, we will never do anything. Is that really what you want?" Robin said.

"That's not the point." Zachery argued.

Robin glared at him. "You're right. The point is if you tell any of the adults, you're dead. I'm not gonna let them ruin my fancy dinner."

"Tell about what?" Zane asked. Robin and Zachery were so busy talking they didn't realize they had made it back.

"Nothing." Robin said before Zachery could respond.

"I see." Zane shrugged. "Welcome back!"

"You're not our robot butler." Robin said waving him off. "You don't have to welcome us every time we get back."

"I know that." Zane said.

"Did you guys get anything for me?" Sally asked not bothering with a friendly greeting.

"No hello?" Robin complained.

Sally rolled her eyes. "We see each other every day."

"If you want something get it yourself." Robin snorted. "I'm not your errand boy."

"Rude." Sally mumbled under her breath.

Zachery walked into the training room where Blake, Terry, and Cole were meditating. Blake gasped from lack of oxygen. "Cole Sensei, I'm still not feeling like I'm in this 'zone' you keep talking about."

"You're not supposed to hold your breath the whole-time kid." Cole said.

"Is that what I'm doing wrong?" Terry asked opening her eyes and exhaling.

Cole opened his mouth as if something was going to come out, but sighed instead. He then managed to get out "What made you two think I was telling you not to breath?"

"You said breathe with the flow. I felt no flow." Terry said simply.

"I just thought that was a part of meditation." Blake admitted.

Cole once again sighed. "Training not going so well?" Zachery asked taking a seat beside Blake.

"You could say." Terry shrugged.

Cole stood up. "I'm going to go get something to eat."

"Me too." Blake stood following Cole to the newly added kitchen.

"So, while me and Robin were out, we ran across a street show." Zachery blurted out with enthusiasm.

Terry turned to him and smiled. It had become routine of theirs to talk to each other daily events whenever they had a monment. "What kind of show was it?"

"It was a mime show." Zachery said crossing his legs into meditating position. "It was weird though. It was like the mime was making physical objects."

"Like how?" Terry asked intrigued.

"Well... I'll tell you the whole story later." He said quietly.

"What's wro-" she started to ask before she saw Robin and Sally walking into the room.

"Whatchu guys talkin' about?" Robin asked sitting in Blake's place.

Terry shrugged and waved her hand lazily. "This and that." Cole and Blake came back with a handful of snacks.

"I had a brilliant idea!" Cole said sitting back in his place. Blake sat on the opposite end of Terry and Sally sat beside him.

"What is it?" Sally asked. For the few months Cole had been there they had learned Cole having an idea was usually bad for them.

"So, I asked myself 'what motivates a person to learn something fast?' Then I thought of my time in prison. Then it hit me. If we were well fed, we would've had a lot more stamina and, as a result, would have been more defiant. Therefore, they lowered our portions of food. Occasionally we'd get more food depending on how we behaved, and as you all can probably guess I never got more food. Anyway, thinking of that made me think of different ways you can you use food as motivation, and I decided that you will only eat these snacks once you've perfected the art of meditation!"

"If we can just reach and get a snack when we get hungry doesn't that defeat the purpose?" Blake asked.

"I will decide when you can get a snack based on how well your meditation is going." Cole smirked. "So, are we ready to begin?"

The team sighed and groaned, but knew better than to complain. "Yes Sensei." They all said in unison. They all closed their eyes trying to meditate. After what felt like hours Robin opened his eyes giving up. "I don't feel a thing." he said.

Cole looked at him and folded his arms. "Well then keep trying."

"I can't do it!" Blake whined. "It's been hours and I'm starving."

"It's only been 30 minutes." Cole sighed. "Fine, you can all have one snack in case you didn't eat before we started. I'll be back." He got up and went into Lloyd's office. "This isn't working!" He complained to Zane and Lloyd who were playing a game of cards.

"What's not working?" Zane asked puzzled.

"I can't train these kids! They just don't get it." Cole grumbled annoyed.

"I know that they need some serious work, but it can't be that bad." Lloyd said.

Cole started pacing in the room. "It's not that bad? Really? I gave them clear instructions to breathe while meditating and they decide not to breathe at all. It's like their brains short circuited or something. I don't get how you can make that kind of mistake. Not to mention Robin and Zachery leaving mid lesson to get ice cream and not bringing me any. I mean the nerve of them. I think we should just give up on the hopeless. I me-" he was cut short by the sound of Lloyd slamming his hands on the table. "Did I say something wrong?"

"How did you beat me again?" Lloyd asked running his hands through his hair.

"My observation skills cannot be beat." Zane said simply.

Lloyd sat down frustrated. "You're not cheating, are you?"

"No. I promised you when we started, I would not cheat."

"That's what happens when you play cards with a nindroid." Cole thought out loud. "Were you listening to a thing I said?"

"Huh?" Lloyd asked confused turning his attention to Cole. Cole face palmed himself and started mumbling.

"Why don't you two play a game of cards while I go deal with the kids." Zane suggested.

"Great idea!" Cole said pushing Zane out of the room. "Good luck."

Zane entered the training room to see Sally holding Robin in a headlock, Blake and Zachery trying to pull Robin and Sally apart, and Terry observing. "What happened?"

Everyone in the room paused turning to look at Zane. "Tell her to get off of me." Robin chocked.

"Not until you give me the chips!" She yelled.

"Never." Robin said squeezing the bag tighter.

"Then suffer!" She said pulling harder.

Blake tried to move her arms, resulting in a kick to the stomach. "I can't do this anymore." He said breathlessly falling backwards.

Zane walked towards the two and gently removed Sally's arms from Robin's neck. "You can't kill your teammates Sally. Especially not over a bag of chips." He said ignoring her persistent kicking.

"He stole my favorite chips!" She yelled.

"I picked them first!" Robin yelled back. Zane picked Sally up sitting her on one end of the matts then picked Robin up and sat him on the other. He then proceeded to take everyone's snacks and put them back in the snack pile.

"Hey!" Blake whined. Zane ignored him dragging him and Zachery to the matts and sitting them in the empty spots beside Terry.

"Now." Zane said sitting down in front of them. "You guys seem to be having some trouble picking your snacks so you no longer have the option to pick them. I have picked them for you."

"What? It was only them." Blake complained.

Zane once again ignored him and tossed each of them a snack. "Now you may eat as I explain what we are going to do."

"What happened to Cole?" Zachery asked doing as he was instructed.

"He was tired so I am stepping in for him." Zane answered. "Now, meditation is very useful. The reason you're learning meditation is to reach yourl greatest level of focus while also learning more about yourselves in the process. Our goal is to get the six of you to reach your full potential. Focus will help you hone in on your hidden abilities, while learning more about yourself will help to make you the best you that you can be. Meditation is good for other things, but these are the two things that we will intently focus on in our lessons. Any questions?" Before anyone could ask anything, Zane continued. "Good! We will start by crossing our legs and simply relaxing. Now close your eyes and just listen to the sound of my voice. Feel everything melting away. It's only you. Now drift even further and when you hear the bell come back and tell me the color of your soul." Zane opened his eyes to see the six of them deep in meditation.

It had been an hour or so of all of them sitting in silence. Zane had even gotten up to make himself some tea. The bell rang signaling time was up. Blake opened his eyes first and shouted the color "Orange! I could see a little red. But what does that mean?"

"That means that you're full of joy and have a lot of joy to give to others." Zane said. "The red is your power, and with enough training you'll be able to make it grow and blend with your orange."

"Cool!" Blake whispered excitedly.

"I saw blue." Terry shrugged.

"Blue means you are trustworthy and steady. You're a good person to ask for things such as advice." Zane explained.

"What about red?" Sally asked.

"You bring love and passion into the world."

Sally frowned disappointed "That's it?"

"I know it doesn't sound like much, but you have a lot to offer Sally." Zane reassured her. "What about you Robin? What did you see?"

"I'm not saying." Robin mumbled.

"Why?" Zane asked.

Robin got up, ready to leave the room. "Because I don't like the color."

"Sit down." Zane commanded, and surprisingly Robin actually listened. "Every color is meaningful, and the meaning behind it could surprise you. It could be something you're interested in."

Robin sat in thought for a moment until he finally decided what he would do. "Fine." he sighed. "But if it's lame, I'm going to erase your memory and kill everyone here."

"Alright." Zane replied.

"It's violet."

Zane grinned "I should've expected that."

"What? What does it mean?" Robin whined wanting Zane to get the point.

"It means you are charming and witty, and you are also a natural born leader." Zane told him. "See, not bad at all."

"Yeah whatever." Robin waved him off trying to hide his satisfaction.

"What about you Zachery?" Zane asked turning to him.

Zachery was silent for a moment. Then he sighed and shrugged. "I didn't see anything. No color. It was just black like I was closing my eyes, which I was, so..."

"I see." Was all Zane said. "That's all for today. You are all free to do as you please." Happy to be free after a long time of training they all dispersed. Before Zachery could leave Zane pulled him to the side and told him "I know your father won't tell you so I will. I've been observing you while you train, and to be frank, you lack in every department. Yes, you can fight, but there is no point if you refuse to. Your fears are holding you back, and the way you are now you're useless to the team. What would you do if it came down to you having to kill someone to save the world? Do you think that you could do what needs to be done? I beg to differ; you couldn't hurt a fly let alone kill it. One day it'll be your feelings or the world, and you're going to have to live with whatever you choose."