| Go Away |

/I should not have come here. / Was the first of many quick, fierce, and most certainly regretful thoughts to race through the supposedly 'young' elf's head. Now, he loved a good venture now and again as much as the next fellow. But his mood had been very quickly fouled. Why did every damn person he had the misfortune to walk past have to say something? His eyes narrowed in obvious annoyance, his ears drooping considerably in response. He just simply wasn't used to so much contact in one day, not when he expected a bit of privacy. It was a forest, after all. A peaceful forest. Peaceful? As if.
This, of course, was just the beginning of his list of troubles. His normally strait composition was beginning to wither with a rather unsuccessful day of gathering. Well, yes, he could always just go and buy off some herbalist, but that would waste his precious money on something that he could do himself! It was times like these that Vivik really started to rethink this outlook on things. Shaking his head slightly, he felt an aura of calm wrap around him once more. It was dangerous of him to lose his cool, though the next person that was unfortunate enough to wander near would certainly experience the full wrath of his nagging fury.
Following the path to a place where he had had many successful past ventures, Vivik found himself idly straitening his clothes, attempting to compose himself further. He hadn't exactly worn formal attire into the forest, that would have just been foolish, however, he did wear some of his more worn articles of clothing. The satchel he decided to store the flowers and herbs in was pounding rather restlessly against his leg, in beat with his sporadic pace. He just had to make it through today without any further distractions, and he'd have a good supply for awhile. And hopefully, a fairer grip on his slipping sanity.

Mari floated an inch or so off the ground, flying around and occasionally through the trees. Today had been a pretty good day for haunting, many unsuspecting victims had been near her path. It helped that most of them couldn't see her. So far, leaving the city for the forest had been a surprisingly good idea.
The best part of it all was that she was not tired at all. She had built up quite a lot of stamina from haunting the multiple stores and such of the city. Mari had just flown up near the treetops when she saw her next unsuspecting victim.
A smile formed on her face as she swooped downward, careful to stay intangible the whole time so as not to make a breeze. The man looked somewhat strange, but that was common for Almori. As she touched down to an inch above the ground and a few feet away, Mari noticed a bag hanging near the man's leg. She crept forward, an arm out to take whatever was in the bag.

A strange feeling came over him, the feeling that perhaps, he was being watched? His ears flattened for a few moments, looking around warily. Nothing. Maybe he was just paranoid that some other annoyance would cross his path. Whatever the case, Vivik was obviously slightly on edge. He couldn't beat off the sense that something was about. Trying not to let it get to him too noticeably, he straitened himself further, and made his pace distinctly brisker, picking up speed. If there was something tailing, it would certainly have a hard time. Well, at least that was what he perceived. Luck was never on his side, was it?
With a slight amount of hesitation, he quite suddenly halted, unaware that some of the contents of his satchel had been grabbed at(and, quite possibly were missing). He had sharp senses, but he couldn't see the invisible. As luck would have it, there lay exactly what he needed, and in a fair abundance. Instead of just leaning down, he settled himself into a careful yet comfortable crouching position. Moving quickly and surprisingly fluidly as he stalked from stalk to stalk, picking the necessary plants to his leisure.
His previous sense of caution, of course, had dissipated in the light of this new, wonderful discovery. This trip might not have been so bad after all!

Mari froze as the man gazed around him and began to walk faster. She frowned and ghosted after him, wondering if he had seen her. It had to be impossible; she was completely invisible, not in her ghost form that could be seen by some.
When he crouched down to pluck at some plants, she decided that this was her chance. This man was proving to be somewhat difficult, but she wasn't going to let him ruin her day of fun. She released her intangibility and let the feeling of being ever so slightly heavier wash over her for a moment. She then reached out her hand, preparing her mind so that she could make contact with the items in the bag instead of going through them.
She felt the mindset of haunting settle nicely over her mind before she felt a jolt pass down her spine and through her hand, making the bag move an inch or so. She immediately took a step back, her semisolid foot creating rustles among the plants.

Finally, he had exactly what he needed. Maybe lady luck wasn't so bad to him after all, they just had their common misunderstandings. Though, just as Vivik braced himself to stand up, he felt something. His satchel. Moved? Something had most definitely touched him. The sound of foliage shifting behind him made his left ear twitch slightly in concealed alarm. So there was someone following him! What were they, trying to mug some defenseless man, surely they'd have more sense than that? People around these parts normally weren't nearly as defenseless as they looked.
Just as soon as he had heard the noise, his head snapped to gaze over his shoulder. And there he could see a semi-solid figure. Within the course of what seemed like only a few seconds, Vivik was poised to face the girl. His features showed nothing, besides the slight lowering of his pointed ears. For a few moments, he simply stared, tensely silent, and almost seemingly frozen with fear. Though, it wasn't quite fear that was pounding through his veins at that moment. He instead found irritation, what could this creature want?
His ear gave another twitch before he hastily cleared his throat, preparing to speak. "And what exactly, are you? " His voice showed nothing, though his eyes gave away a veiled curiosity at what this creature could be. She most certainly wasn't human as he presence showed. As he awaited her answer, his muscles tensed slightly, caution consuming his mind. Maybe he had a right to embrace that slight spike of fear that entered him, for he truly didn't know what she was.

Mari's eyes widened as the man turned around to face her. It was obvious that he had seen her, if only she had stayed intangible! But then she wouldn't be able to haunt him as she liked.
Now that she could see his face, Mari could tell that the man wasn't quite human; his ears were definitely abnormal for humans. So whatever he was, he could see her. She'd have to be more careful about choosing her victims in the future.
Mari crossed her arms as the man asked what she was. It was as if he'd never seen a ghost before! Well, aside from her reflection, she hadn't either, but this was Almori, a land of all types of true myths.
Mari floated up, settling around two feet off the ground so that she was at eye level with the man. "I'm your worse nightmare, old man." While he might not have looked old enough to call old, in Mari's mind, all adults were old. She grinned as evily as she could, wondering how far she could go in her haunting. Hopefully he wouldn't attempt to harm her, but if he did, she could slip through the earth and fly away. She was going to have fun with this one.

In the brief few moments that he awaited her reply, Vivik idly began to mess with his fingers. Popping them, twisting them, interlocking, twiddling, a nervous habit of his. He needed something to occupy his attention, as he felt that he would certainly not like the answer that he was soon about to receive. He simply set his hands at rest, one on his knee and the other one top of it, digging his nails slightly into the skin. Enough to leave a mark, perhaps, but not to draw blood, he had to be careful about doing that.
At her response, his hand noticeably tensed, cutting a bit deeper. /Well, that's going to leave a mark./ He thought, his tone of mind taking a rather dreary turn. "Right now, you're more of an annoyance, than a nightmare." He quipped back, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Good try, though." The fact that she floated up to look at him didn't seem to put him off in the slightest, though his thoughts were ranging out slightly now. Going over what he could possibly do in the worst circumstances.
But now that he could see her eye-to-eye, despite her being somewhat see-through, he could make a few observations. For one, she appeared rather young, this perhaps made her foolish. That, or the youth was a clever disguise meant to put him off. For now, he just settled with not trusting the creature- not until he had a definite answer on her part. Though he did know one thing, she obviously showed a certain lack of courtesy and obvious disrespect for her elders!

Mari couldn't stop the pout that fixed itself on her face at the man's answer. He wasn't scared at all! She exhaled loudly before lowering herself down to her average level of an inch above the ground. If he was going to be mean and spoil her fun, then maybe she'd spoil his day; she sure hoped she would. "You seem awfully mean for someone who's so ig- ...in- ...stupid," she finished, having forgotten that one i-word that meant stupid. "For all you know, I could have more power than you can imagine."
She turned herself invisible for a moment before adding, "But since you're so old, I bet you can't imagine much anyways." She floated a few feet to his left before returning to her original state. "You're just a grumpy old man, ain'tcha'?" She asked, floating up a few inches so that she didn't feel so short. Why did all the mean adults have to be so tall?

Oh my. It seemed...Disappointed about something. Slowly, Vivik was internally preparing himself for the worst. Though on the outside, he remained just as calm and cool as ever. He almost wanted to ask what was upsetting her, but he hadn't exactly replied to her in the nicest of tones. Maybe he was right when he assumed that she was young and thus, possibly reckless. Whatever the case, that recklessness could mean danger for him, as much of a grace as it seemed at the moment.
However, as she struggled with whatever word that happened to cease to come to her mind, Vivik couldn't help but let out a hearty chuckle. "I don't think I'm the stupid one, since I can recall all of my words." He answered simply, a confident smirk beginning to line his features. "If you did have such power, you don't seem to be showing it off very well." However, this set him more on the alert than ever. It did his mind no ease as she disappeared, and his ears perked up in a mixture of surprise and a slight mixture of fear. Though he tried his best to let only his surprise show through.
"I'll have you know my age hasn't hampered my memory. It would do you well to listen to your elders." A smirk crossed his features again. "At least, if you'd like to build that minuscule vocabulary of yours, that is." There was no hiding the obvious smugness in his tone. He narrowed his eyes at her as she appeared once more. "I may be grumpy, but at least I'm intelligent. Why it is that you've sought to bother me, I would like to inquire." Ah, and now he finally asked the question that had been resting on his mind.

Mari was very tempted to stick her toungue out at the man when he implied that she was stupid; she didn't because, well, the man had a point. She wouldn't admit it out loud because she Hated being wrong, but it was true.
He did seem to be at least a little startled by her disappearance act. That was fun at least; this encounter seemed to be turning into a battle of wits. And while it would've been nice to make fun of the man smartly, she was only eleven or so to his who knows how many years. This put her at a major disadvantage and she hated losing more than being wrong.
And then he downplayed her powers. Mari had to admit that they were probably more useful than the man gave her credit for. She did stick out her toungue when he began to lecture her. Her mother had done that all the time... she thought; and it was just as boring.
She grinned as he asked her why she was bothering him before gliding upwards and performing a loop-de-loop in the air. She settled softly on the actual ground, feeling the slight breeze she had created go still. "I'm here to haunt you. It's kind of my job as a ghost."