Elsewhere in Neverland was Peter Pan standing on the edge of the cliff where he can see the sunrise. The sun still rises, it was a good thing, ever since the nightmares, Pan stands on the same spot to await the night to fade and day to light the sky. When the first light is sighted, that's when Pan leaves the spot.

One of these mornings, will turn to never-ending night. Time will move for the first time in history of Neverland. Time moves, everyone and everything will begin to grow. War will come, war will approach to Neverland. A man who was once a Boy Who Wouldn't Grow will come back and restore Neverland then he will wipe out everyone that are living in Neverland.

Peter Pan wasn't sure if he'll survive and live to see if he and the Lost Boys win the battle. He wasn't sure if the Lost Boys will win, he wasn't sure if the Natives will survive.

The sun rose in the early morning, the birds sang, the Lost Boys slept in a little more longer, meanwhile Mara, James, Curly and Tootles still slept and Slightly was making arrows while watching over Shadow and Lady.

Not long before Tootles woke up, woke up to see the blue sky above with tallest trees standing around him. He smiled because it was day, because the sun has risen. It was another normal and peaceful day in Neverland.

Before noon, when everyone broke their fast in the Camp, Pan announced today was training day. There had been a lot of training nowadays since the nightmares, the Lost Boys and Mara all have been training more nearly every day and also playing the hunting games. It's as if Pan is pushing them all to train much harder than before. As if he was preparing them for a war which he was and a battle was near.

Training was different, Pan decided to get the best fighters like Felix, Curly, Thomas, Nibs, and the Twins to train few others and fight them one at a time. Mara finds herself fighting Curly, Thomas and James at times, the good fighter would instruct them how to handle a sword or a spear better, how to disarm the foe's weapon.

Training went on for hours, they wouldn't stop until their bones begin to ache and stiff

"He's getting us prepared more and more" Curly said, talking about Pan as they were walking back to the camp. "As if a big battle is getting close"

No one responded to that, Mara was too tired to say something and seems like the rest were exhausted as well. Too exhausted to start a conversation or sing a song like they used to. They just wanted to walk to the camp and rest and have supper.

Mara rubbed the small bruise on her temple where Thomas had smack her with his spear while they were training and almost knocked her out.

During supper, it was almost quiet, there were murmurs and chatting from the Lost Boys. There wasn't much to speak about besides the training and what comes tomorrow. Mara had talked to James, Tootles and Curly most of the evening meanwhile Pan was absent. He's been spending less in the camp these days and would only come to bring food, to announce what they'll be doing for the day and would check on them time to time while the Lost Boys are sleeping for the night.

Tootles was just speaking about Pan and how he wasn't around much like he used to. Mara replied, "I think he's concerned"

"About what?"

Mara shrugged, "About Neverland, I suppose"

It was almost the truth, Mara may have seen him, as if she knows what he's thinking. There have been a lot of nights the past month where she leaves her tent, she would find Pan sitting by the campfire and sometimes he isn't there but would come and find her awake eventually. They talk a lot, Pan talks a lot and the more they do, the more they know each other. Like she knows what he's thinking, like she knows what he's going to say and what's going to do.

Sometimes they don't talk, they merely sit and listen to the night. Afterwards, Mara goes back to her tent and sleep meanwhile Pan leaves to see if the sun rises.

The sun rose in the next morning, the sky was clear but the air was a bit chilly like autumn mornings. The Lost Boys and Girl were all wrapped in their blankets so tightly that the chilly morning made them all even more comfortable and overslept until Pan woke them all up.

Breakfast was waiting for them. The bruises and aches from yesterday's training was still on every boy and girl's bone, barely any of them got off their hammock because of their soreness meanwhile Tootles just rolled off of his and fell to the ground. All that hard training they've been pushed to were torturing them.

When Pan saw the struggle in them, doubting that they'll be in no good shape for the game he planned for today, he decided to give them a free day, take a break and rest those sores. Heal them and relieve them and by the next morning, they'll be gone.

That day, the Lost Boys went to the Falls for a swim, saying that the cold water can relieve the sore in their bones and Mara just took the medicine drink she made that relieves every ache in her body.

In the next morning, the sun rose and there were little amounts of clouds. Clouds would block the sun and shade Neverland often. The air was barely chilly that some Lost Boys even Mara woke up too warm that they sweat.

Pan announced that they'll be playing a game at the Cove. He didn't say what kind of game but Curly had a few guesses. Pan finally revealed what game they're playing when they arrived the Cove, it was some things they have to retrieve underwater. Five row boats were set on the shore, and the teams are the one they live with in their tents as usual. Pan had gems hidden under the water in the middle of the Cove, the team that finds most gems wins while the team that finds the least are the losers.

Only one person from each team at a time can go in, if that person gets weary, the next person goes in. It sounded simple for Mara. Curly explained that finding the gems is hard because they're tiny and they can be found anywhere in the water; within the clams, in the bottom, seashells. The game will go on until Pan says it. James said it might go on for a few hours even if they get cold.

Everyone already changed into their swimming clothes before they left the camp and already assumed they'll be swimming. Unlike the boys's garments were all sleeveless and shorts while Mara's shirt had sleeves down to her elbows and short were below her knees and all of them brought cloaks with them.

Before the game began while they were all in the middle of the Cove on their row boats. James decided to go in first, then Curly. When James was in the waters, it took him four times to swim back up to surface for breath and resulted him getting two gems. It was Curly's turn, he took almost longer than James did and he managed to find three gems. The gems that they found were put in a jar. Mara decided to go in next and dives in with no hesitation.

Under the water, it was all blue, the sun shined out of the clouds most of the time, sending rays in the water, four other Lost Boys were swimming far from each other. Mara found one gem when she swam to the bottom then kept looking, putting the gem into her pocket. She'd swim back up to the surface when she ran out of breath and take breaths before taking a deep one then went back in.

She didn't stop until she got tired so she went back up to the row boat and had found only three gems. Then Slightly dived in.

The game went on for few hours, until the sky changed to near evening. Mara and her tentmates had found seventeen gems. It was definitely hard to find them.

Back at the shore where the teams gathered around Pan. All of them shivering under their cloaks as Pan counted the gems from each team. As he was done, it wasn't Mara and her team that won or lost. Ace and his team found most with twenty three gems while Thomas and his team had the least. At least Mara and his friends didn't lose.

The sun rose in the next morning with almost cloudless sky above Neverland. Clouds were very far ahead and it was another chilly morning.

The sun continued to rise the following days. Day after day for a week or so. The training days were getting rough, the games became training and lessons as well. The Lost Boys start to fight one another during those lessons but at the end of the day, they forgive and forget. Even Mara gets into with Curly and Slightly during trainings, especially with Thomas, Felix, the Twins out of the trainings. But at the end of the day, she confronts them and says how it was her fault for snapping at them, that was her way of apology because apparently, in Neverland, they never apologize.

Then it is night and everyone is asleep. Mara dreamt of her father. In the dream, she is sitting with him outside of their cottage and he's telling her as much about her mother. He says that her mother was a unique, dreamer, beautiful, willful and believer. She believed in a lot of things, he said. That anything's possible. This was days before he left to war.

When Mara woke up, it was still night, it must be still midnight so she fell back asleep.

She slept until woken by James "Mara!" He was shaking her arm. "Wake up! It's morning!"

She overslept, she awoke slowly and barely opened her eyes. Finding James standing by her with a worried look on his face.

"Mara, it's morning" he said, there was a hint of terror in his voice, "the sun... the sun didn't rise"

***

Oh dear... you know what this means, right?

Sorry that this chapter lacked dialogue.