In the next morning, Mara felt sore from the training yesterday, her legs mainly from all the running, she could barely lift them over her hammock and getting up. She stretched a little and James implied to take one of the medicine for sore and it should go away before they start their day.
The medicine James suggested tasted herbs and pine, it wasn't too awful but it wasn't the best thing she ever tasted. They said it would take a while to relive the sore after taking the medicine. As the morning went on, breakfast was long for Mara as Pan waited for everyone to finish breaking their fast.
Mara rarely seen Pan eating, he was eating this morning and seemed like the first she had seen him. The boy was quite mysterious, who doesn't seem want to share of his past even if he trusted her, a boy who can do magic and who knows what else. Mara herself was surprised to be intrigued of him and had a feeling of wanting to know about Peter Pan.
When morning grew late and every boy in the camp filled their stomach enough, that's when Pan announced that everyone is going for a run. Mara didn't like the sound of that.
"Hope you can keep up, arseling" said Curly, "Especially to the cliff"
"The cliff?"
"You'll see, that's if you make it up the hills" Curly chuckled.
Pan wanted Ace and his group to lead, followed by Felix and his group, then by Thomas's while Mara's tentmates went last.
It was more of a jog, up towards the north, toward where the mountain stood, she was behind Curly and Tootles behind her. She'd hear the clumsy boy's feet stumbling behind her at times as they'd run up the hill.
There was a long line of Lost Boys as she looked up, about twenty-five of them including behind her and herself. She heard every foot shuffling in front of her and behind her, no panting from them yet, she hasn't grown exhausted just yet, soon she will, soon her lungs and throat will wheeze and dry and pain will throb on the bottom of her lungs, and her heart will starting running quicker than her running.
The hills became steep and steeper as they jogged up higher on the hill and as closer they got to the mountain. That made the running harder and exhaustion fastened. It seems Mara was the only one who was growing tired while the rest weren't. They've all done this for a long time and countless times, they can run miles upon miles and perhaps they can run around the world.
"Running out of breath, girl?" James said who was behind her but with Tootles between them.
"I'm not the one who has been running for decades and has done this a thousands upon thousand times" she panted, "I'm no runner-- not fond of running-- hate running"
"Don't exhale, breath slowly and short through your nose, not your lips, makes your mouth dry"
"Could've thought of that before we started running?"
James laughed softly. "We're almost there to the finish line anyway"
"Aye" Tootles agreed, "when we say run faster, run faster"
"If I can" Mara couldn't speak anymore even when she wanted to ask where exactly they were heading to, Curly said about some sort of a cliff.
This might be the longest run she had ever took in her life, she had been chased by a knight, man, woman and child before but she'd managed to lose them and outrun them before her legs feel burn and her lung's breath shortened. She even started to slow down and James had to give her a slight push to get her running.
Mara had no idea if they were nearly there, it was until she noticed half of the boys in front of her disappearing from her sight, she heard them howling and whooping ahead. The boys in front of her began to sprint quicker, that was her cue to run fast.
When she got close enough to see where the boys had went, they were at the cliff, and they had jumped off. Mara was confused, she even slowed despite being told to run fast.
What was below them? Mara hesitated and halted a feet from the edge as she watched Curly jumped across and across was another cliff, couple feet down but yards apart and below was over a hundred feet down. Down there she saw river.
"Are you serious?!" She exclaimed in disbelief.
Tootles ran past her, jumped across and made it on the other side. James stopped beside her, "We told you to run fast, run fast then you make it"
"You can't be serious" she shook her head. She and James were the only ones on this side and everyone else were on the other side.
"If Tootles can do it, you can do it too"
"Yeah and he has been doing this countless times I imagine"
"No one ever fell, everyone makes it, even first timers" James jogged back and she swore she heard him murmuring "I think"
James sprinted toward the cliff, ran passed her then jumped across as she watched him. He landed barely on his feet, he stumbled forward before being caught by Slightly and Curly.
She was now alone on her side, "Come on, arseling!" Curly shouted.
"You can do it, Mara!" Tootles encouraged.
Meanwhile some of the boys laughed, sneered at her, she could hear them making insult remarks about her for not jumping. She heard she is weak and being a coward.
"You wanna give up?" Pan was here now, out of nowhere and she was beside her.
She didn't respond, she looked down over the ledge, looking below, she could die from the fall, has she jumped like the boys before? No, of course not. "You and your boys have a lot of death wishes than I do"
"Don't worry about death, girl" Pan scoffed, "Worry about how the boys will think of you. Right now, they think you're a weakling and too afraid. They're having a laugh about it"
Don't tempt me, she wanted to say. She sighed has she stepped back away from the ledge, "This is mad, you're all mad like I said before"
"What's fun without a little madness and daring?" He folded his arms as he glanced down over the edge before looking at Mara. "Come on, even the clumsy boy like Tootles did it. Even little Thomas does it, especially when there was a time when he had a mind of a scared little child. And you're no clumsy or a scared little child, aren't you?"
No, she wasn't, she's not clumsy nor a child who is frightened. She was adventurous herself, she reminded herself that, what's adventure without a little daring?
She was walking away until she was near the woods. That's where she stopped, she exhaled then thought Damn this. She turned and without hesitation, she sprinted forward, fast as she could and she could give despite already exhausted. She past Pan, once her foot was on the edge, she jumped. For a second, she felt like she was flying across, the boys ahead were getting closer and she never had time to glanced down. Her foot landed on edge, unable to keep on her feet that she fell forward and rolled few times on the ground.
Mara was lying on her back and facing the gloomy sky before James's face appeared, then Tootles's and Curly's and Slightly's. All she felt was her heart beating fast and the rush that she barely knew what just happened. "Did I make it?"
The boys grinned and Curly laughed. "No, arseling, you're dead"
James reached his hand out for her take and helped her up. She exhaled, gazed over the other side and see Pan still standing and looking over her. The feeling she had was so... exhilarating. The exhilaration she haven't felt for a very long time. She'd do it if she could.
"Fun, wasn't it?" Tootles smiled.
"Psh!" Curly scoffed, "this was nothing, there's a lot more fun to do than that"
Mara would love to do more than that.
That same day, after she took a break in the camp from the run, she and James went to the meadow to train since Pan gave everyone a free time for the rest of the day.
The training was usual, practice swinging and fighting with staffs, a bit of sword fighting and even knives. She was showing than slight of improvement in staff fighting and swinging them. She was slowly learning.
She learned of James's moves, and she predicted his movements, that's how she almost beat him. When their staffs clashed together few dozen times and danced around in circles. She knew where James would step, move to and where he'd swing his staff. So she blocked his staff and made him drop his guard and that's where she took the chance by knocking him down on his knee but when she attempt to knock him down on the ground, he took her staff under his arm, pulling it along with her over his shoulder and tossed her down onto the ground. He was on her, his arm pressed against her chest and their faces were a foot apart between them.
The look he gave her was different, there was no smile on his face, nor a stern, it was as if he saw something in her, something in her that made him seemingly charmed before blinking like he snapped out of daze. "Let's keep going" he stood up.
Mara felt disappointment there, she wanted to stay on the ground, with him beside her...
She got up anyway and they both proceed training until evening turned night.
***
I apologize for the long wait for an update, I've been busy with work, also I have a new story I published which is The Maze Runner fanfic called 'Way Down We Go' if you're interest in that if you're a Minho fan ^_^
Plus I'm on Game of Thrones marathon binging before season 7 starts which is a week away! (Who's excited for that? I know I am! ^_^)
Stay weird, everyone... and... Valar Morghulis