Chapter 4:

Maya stood frozen with shock. She can't be serious. Pearl's eyes shone with sincerity. On no, she is serious! "… Boot camp?" she asked weakly, trying to hang on to the hope that this was all just a big joke. But those hopes were crushed at Pearl's serious nod – she wasn't messing around.

"Well," Pearls began, hands on hips, "are you going to show me that you truly are the Master or are you just a little girl playing at one?" Her tone and posture were challenging.

I've never seen Pearly with so much attitude! It must be from all those books she's been reading. Maya was never one to back away from a challenge and Pearl was right: she needed to prove that she could handle being the Master. She squared her shoulders. "Right. What's first?"

A huge grin broke across Pearl's face as she clasped her hands together in excitement. "I knew you'd do it Mystic Maya!" She exclaimed happily. "Let's go!" Wasting no time, Pearl turned on her heel and began walking swiftly towards the rock. Oh right, I almost forgot about that. Maya visibly deflated, shoulders hunching. Luckily, Pearl had her back turned and didn't see; it would definitely dampen her spirits if she had. With this realisation, Maya trotted after her younger cousin so she wouldn't get the wrong idea.

"So how many stairs do we have to climb?" she asked as she met Pearl at the base of the rock face. From here, it seemed to spiral on forever, the canopies of the trees blocking the top of the cliff from view.

"Only about 300," Pearl answered nonchalantly.

Maya's response was to merely gape at her in disbelief. "You can't be serious. I can't climb 300 stairs!"

"You can and you will." Pearl's no nonsense tone prevented Maya from any further outbursts. Pearl stepped aside and motioned for Maya to begin the long climb. As Maya put her left foot on the first step, she spun around when she saw Pearly walking away. "And where are you going?" She demanded, indignant.

An innocent smile graced Pearl's lips. "Oh Mystic Maya, you didn't think I would be participating as well? I'm not the one who ate too many burgers…"

"Hey!"

"I'll meet you at the top," she continued, ignoring Maya's outburst. With that, Pearl waved and began walking back the way they'd come. "Good luck, Mystic Maya," she called from over her shoulder.

Maya turned reluctantly back to the rock face and groaned. This was going to be one long morning…

As she made the exhausting journey up the stairs, Maya mumbled angrily to herself. "Stupid Pearls with her stupid boot camp. Stupid burgers with their stupidly delicious special sauce. Stupid special sauce with its stupidly high fat content." Soon, talking out loud became too difficult as her breathing quickened and her legs began to ache. She'd been climbing for ten minutes now and was beginning to regret agreeing to the whole thing. Looking up, all she could see were more stairs, the top still obscured by the trees. Maya groaned and stopped her journey to sit and rest her aching limbs; she was 99% certain both feet were covered in blisters.

"Mystic Maya!" she heard the distant call of Pearl from way up above. "There's no time to rest!" How can she see me from here? Maya scrambled to her feet; if Pearly was watching she wasn't going to disappoint her showing weakness.

Maya didn't know how much time had passed when she finally saw the top of the cliff, Pearl's head sticking comically over the edge as she watched her older cousin's progress. By this time, Maya was practically crawling up the stairs – a combination of the steepness of the stairs at this height and her fatigued legs.

"Ah flat land!" she exclaimed as she pulled herself over the last step. She lay on the soft grass, panting heavily, revelling in not having to move. "How I have missed you," she crooned, twirling blades of grass around her fingers.

"C'mon Mystic Maya, not time for dawdling!" Pearl said perkily. She began skipping off down the path that led deeper into the forest.

"You can't be serious!" Maya shouted after her. How many times had she said that today already? She lay unmoving for as long as she thought she could get away with. Sighing deeply, she struggled to her feet, shuffling after her cousin with pain coursing though her body. Wearing an ironic smile, she thought of just how much she was looking forward to the rest of the day, ignoring the pleasant feeling of her blisters popping.

To be continued...