#going to spam all these here so it's not just plants anymore oops

[fungus-gnats]

cricket visitor!

[moriarty-i-s-back]

A walk to remember

For my friend @the-great-and-powerful-animegan, I’m posting it here so I don’t end up spamming others on ao3 oops

“Did you know that there are stories about this ghost in the forest?”

The boy didn’t really believe in ghost stories. Especially when it happened to take place in a forest where nothing happened in his hometown. He knew that somebody probably just made it up to have something to talk about, but he didn’t want to seem like the kid who just ignored something to talk about. Especially not on this field trip to the ranger station.

“Don’t give me that look, Marcus!” His friend, Rachel, scoffed at him and smirked. “I bet you wanna know about the story right?” At his response (which was just a raised eyebrow) she continued on.

“Right, right, okay, so listen. The ghost that stalks these woods wasn’t just a regular, old dude. Apparently the ghost used to be a girl. She even grew up in the town next to ours, so this has to be a true story. But get this, she used to be a troll, not a human!” Okay, now admittedly, this got his attention. Trolls were a hot topic now a days, especially since the troll rescue group that had started a huge awareness of the cruelty of the troll species had recently had its last founding member die.

Marcus shifted his weight and scooted closer to his friend. They were in the forest station’s lobby for a school sleepover and while normally this was an annual borefest,  the story might have made things less dull than normal, even for a second, and Marcus was not about to let that out of his grasp.

“The troll ghost had been a happy child and lived a mostly happy life until she lost somebody like super important to her and she swore revenge on whoever had taken her beloved. She tracked them down into these very woods and is always on the move, searching for that poor sap who took her happiness.” Rachel looked over at the windows surrounding them. “Some say that she even wonders to the forest station, the one we’re in right now, to check out the humans and make sure they aren’t the ones hiding her love. She vows that when she finds whoever took her love she’ll make them suffer like they made her.”

A dramatic pause ensued.

Marcus scoffed and laid back on his sleeping bag. “You got some nerve, y’know? I thought you were gonna tell a real ghost story.”

“This is real!”

“That’s about as real and scary as Bigfoot in my grandmother’s dress.”

“Okay, but you gotta admit that that’s a scary sight too.” Rachel smirked and dodged the pillow that was thrown at her direction.

The teacher came in at that point and cleared everyone away to their own rooms based on gender. There were some complaints, but nothing too dramatic (or entertaining) for Marcus’s tastes. Eventually, everybody went off to bed and the lights were shut out. There were a few discussions going on, but otherwise it was silent. And even after a few hours, nobody except for Marcus was awake. He doubted that even the rangers were asleep at this point, so he got out of his sleeping bag on the floor and went over to the window.

It was pretty cool to look at, he had to admit. All the trees and colors that were offered to see, even in the moonlight’s pale glow. The hills upon hills of trees and rocks, the cliffs that offered a one way ticket to pain, the endless sky with countless stars. All of it just seemed so beautiful that it made everything seem kinda insignificant. Well, everything except for one. Did that troll girl really have to go through this entire forest looking for whoever hurt her? He’d been here a few times before and he had to admit, it was a huge place. Even if she looked everyday it would take years before she’d be able to even have a chance of stumbling upon them.

A movement in the bushes across the way caught his eye. Hoping to see an animal, maybe a wolf even, he focused on that. After a minute of watching, he huffed and tried not to be too disappointed that he didn’t get to see anything.

That was, until a few of the girls from his class walked out of the building and towards the forest.

Eyes widening (what were they thinking?!), he turned on his heel and raced down the stairs that led to the door outside. He didn’t even pause to grab his shoes. He wouldn’t really need them if he was able to stop them before they got deeper into the forest.

He called out to them when he got outside, telling them to stop and come back, but they either didn’t hear them or didn’t care. He growled, debated on grabbing his shoes or not at this point, then gave up and pursued them. These girls were crazy, didn’t they realize what could happen to them?

Before he was even able to stop them, he lost track of them. The logical thing to do would be go back to the station and get a ranger to track them down. But he didn’t want to do that. Not yet at least. If he couldn’t find them in ten minutes, then he totally would, but until then, he was gonna find them even if it killed him.

Thirty minutes later, he knew he was lost. He couldn’t even see the station anymore, let alone the girls or anything that would’ve helped point him in the right direction. Marcus was torn between simply giving up and making camp where he was (which would’ve just consisted of sitting on a log or something and waiting until morning)  or keep going. He didn’t really want to end up as an animal’s meal, but he didn’t want to waste his energy when he didn’t have to. He hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before and he was already exhausted.

Something off in the distance moved and he froze, heart already starting to climb in panic.

“H...Hello?” Maybe it was a ranger who came looking for him? He’d like to hope this at least. “Is somebody there?”

Nobody answered, which made his skin crawl. Okay, nope, it was really time to go for him. He got up and was about to bolt when he saw the piercing yellow eyes stare him down. He always thought it was cliche for somebody to be paralyzed with fear when they saw yellow eyes, but now that he was in that spot? Oh, holy shit, you better believe that he was truly paralyzed.

The eyes disappeared and something rose from the bush. He didn’t even think about staying for a second, as soon as the eyes were out of his sight he didn’t stay long to find out what was the owner of those magnificent orbs.

He jumped over a log, ducked under a branch, breath almost out of control. He wasn’t like the other kids where they would look back at the monster, no, he kept going. He was almost glad that he did so many of those parkour tricks back at home because really, wow, it did come in handy at this point.

But no parkour was going to help him when the rock he landed on gave out and sent him tumbling down a hill. He tumbled over branches, rocks, plants, and what he thought was to be either a cactus or a porcupine. When he finally stopped rolling around, he groaned and tried to move even a little. But wow, okay, that was not going to happen any time soon. It wasn’t long before he felt another presence near him and his heart rate began to climb again. But what was he going to do? Marcus was in a lot of pain and wouldn’t even have a hope of defending himself. He was just a waiting meal for whatever animal had the luck of finding him.

When he opened his eyes, however, it wasn’t a hungry wolf or a murderer who was going to kill him, however. No, it was the complete opposite.

It was that troll ghost thing. It had to be. The way that she could navigate the forest without being heard or seen, the way that she was able to not only keep up with him but came out of that chase unscathed. That and her eyes held the piercing glare could also be seen with hidden pain deep within. He knew it. She was hurting deeply inside, but he wouldn’t say anything. He couldn’t even if he wanted to, his voice was lodged somewhere in his throat.

She was magnificent. She didn’t wear any shoes, something that he envied greatly over. His feet were soft and squishy, now cut up and bruised. Hers had to have been toughened up enough so she wouldn’t have to worry about shoes. She wore shorts that were obviously made to last outside for an extended period of time. Around her hips was a deer skin that hung to her hips like somebody who tied their jacket around their hips would have it. She only wore a tank top outside of that but it was obvious that she didn’t need to wear clothes for warmth. She probably knew how to keep herself warm, she obviously knew how to take care of herself based on her muscles and scars covering her body.

Neither of them moved for a few seconds as Marcus gazed up at her in amazement. He was only startled when she moved down to bring him to his feet. She was shorter than he would’ve expected, easy enough for him to drape his arm over her shoulders for support.

“Yo-you’re the ghost girl,” he whispered. “The one from the stories.”  

She didn’t respond, just started walking in a direction (probably to the ranger station).

“Can...Can I ask you a few questions?”

She didn’t respond so he took this as an okay to go on. “How do you know where to go in this forest? Have you lived here your entire life or did you really live in the town? Who are you after exactly? You know, revenge won’t do anything.” He was rambling from the nerves, he knew, but she didn’t really comment. “Whoever you lost wouldn’t want it.” Until he said that.

She flinched and looked at him with scalding eyes. They were furious and almost looked...betrayed?

“Don’t.” Her lips pursed together as she started on again.

Though he didn’t really know her or her situation, if she was even in the right or wrong, she looked hurt enough where he automatically replied. “Sorry.” He replied and didn’t really say anything the rest of the way back to the ranger station.