When Malark finished circling the clearing, his spell all but confirmed she was there. He had reached his goal, her campsite was tucked away, barely visible off the road, but now the wizard was puzzled on how to proceed. Obviously, magically tracking her down was not the most genial way to start a new… friendship…. but there was no other way to get the answers he needed.

Rudeness aside, Malark had learned firsthand from Desenriel and her creative punishments for the party (especially Mataman and Thad) that messing with a rogue's personal space could result in consequences ranging from humiliation, to pain, to dismemberment. So he sat there, fiddling with the bloodhound fur in his palm nervously and pondering his next move as Emerald looked at him with judging eyes. His horse clearly thought "Didn't think this one through eh?"

"Ho the camp!" He bellowed. Another lesson from Thad, when in doubt, use the direct approach. Malark waited for a few moments, wondering whether he should amplify his voice with magic or just continue to wait while looking foolish. Though in his consideration of magic, the distracted wizard lost track of his previous spell. Had he stuck to his lessons, he may not have been as surprised by the voice over his right shoulder that asked reasonably "Do gentlemen stalk nowadays? Doesn't make sense to me, but I think my gender stopped trying to understand yours a few centuries ago."

Luckily for Malark, his startled jerk did not send him tumbling to his ass on the ground. He still felt the need to hush Emerald who made a sound equivalent to a horsey chuckle at his master's predicament.

Malark turned to face his purple eyed quarry. She sat with her legs splayed on a tree limb and had clearly snuck around him through the treeline above. She didn't have her kukri blades drawn but he knew the crossbow she had in her lap would not tickle if she decided to use it.

"Yes, well, ummm…." Years of diplomatic training were showing their long term effects as Malark eloquently stumbled through random nonsense after being distracted by the small smirk he spotted under the purple eyes. "I needed to find you. It's important or I wouldn't have stalked you." He congratulated himself on complete sentences while internally facepalming over his admission of guilt.

She seemed to be a bit surprised (unsurprisingly) and while the smirk faded it was replaced with more of a thoughtful look. She switched positions, putting the crossbow aside and sliding on her stomach over the branch, placing her head on her hands and kicking her feet up on the trunk.

"Now while I agree we might have some unfinished business, you can't honestly expect me to fall all over you just because you managed one little assist and found my little hiding spot hmmm? Don't you know how to court a girl? Where are the flowers? The heads of my enemies? 7 minstrels to sing of my beauty? I mean you show up here when I'm half-dressed and expect a quick fu….

"Wait, wait wait I'm here about Hookhand!"

The clearing grew a bit silent, and while they both were a bit red in the face, the violet eyes seemed to have more amusement, if a bit of annoyance that her game had been de-railed. Meanwhile the hazel ones were tinged with obvious desperation as the idiot they were attached to tried to reclaim his honor and avoid picturing the scene she was describing.

"Hookhand? I don't know a Hookhand? Who's he? Not the new doctor in town I hope, seems a bit inconvenient for a surgeon."

Now that he had caught his breath, he managed to string two thoughts together and realize she wasn't just playing with him to be coy. "I heard what you said yesterday, it wasn't something that felt important during the scuffle, but you were clearly looking for Hookhand. There should only be one man by that name. A pirate, a vagabond, famed across the Sword Coast. Yet you were there to meet someone with that name. Why?"

The game was over, or at least paused as the half-elf propped herself up onto the branch and picked up the crossbow. Rather than point it at Malark though, she darted through the trees swiftly, moving over branches and placing some obstacles between the two. "Look, you overheard something you're not a part of. It's none of your business and a gentleman never asks a lady such a personal question abruptly!"

Malark resumed his concentration on his tracking spell. His experience told him she could dart off at any time, and this was too important to risk losing her. The next sentence came out firm but calm, ringing out loudly in the forest. "Hookhand is my business, I've sailed the Sword Coast for years. That villain and his crew have murdered more friends of mine than I can stand to remember. The last time I looked at him, his namesake was on the ground and I had driven a spike of ice through his guts. I thought I had seen the last of him as the remains of his faded into the blackness of the sea."

Another silence settled on the trees. He did not see her but heard the faint sound of her breath and knew she was still close through his spell.

"How do you know it is the same man?" Came her voice, tentative but firm. "I hear it's a very popular name this century. All the boys named Hookhand, all the girls named Alliyah."

Malark rolled his eyes "And I suppose they all hire mercenaries and threaten assassins in this part of the world too. Who is it you were trying to meet?"

"…. Fine it was the pirate. He's famous through across the land you know, and he has been raiding ships for years. Even with your supposed victory."

Malark was startled, feeling almost sick. He dismounted from Emerald and wound his hand in his mane. "How can he still be alive? We were days away from shore, no necromancer could have found his body. And no cleric would have touched a soul so unclean."

Before he knew it, she was closer than she had ever been, within arms length on the other side of Emerald. She looked almost concerned but still seemed determine to avoid a serious answer. "Like I said, maybe it's not the same man. Pirates take the name of their powerful fallen brothers all the time. It's the name that's important. No one would surrender to the dread pirate Westley."

"A new Hookhand, adding crimes to the dark legacy, or the old Hookhand, brought back from the death after I put him down for good….. Neither are good options." Malark sits down on the forest floor, memories of storms and ships and battle raging inside as he tries to put the pieces together. "So how do you come into this… you know, I just realized we haven't been introduced."

"See what happens when you do things all out of order? Stalking poor innocent me without even learning her name first? Some gentleman you are. Aren't you supposed to give your name before asking for mine?"

The playful tone had returned, and it helped pull Malark out of his dark thoughts and back to the present. "My name is Malark os Mys Shari, it's a pleasure to meet you. I was a sailor and an Ambassador along the Sword Coast for many years before I…. ran into some trouble with a certain cult. After that I bounced from town to town until I found a bit of an odd group. We travelled together, fought together and pitted ourselves against the cult of Tiamott."

"Oh, so that was you? I was wondering why we all weren't suffering torture under a pitch-black sky with a five headed dragon god hovering above. Though to be fair it was only luck that you lot finished them off before my friends got involved. We may have actually made a bit less of a mess of it."

Malark laughed "If you knew my party, you would know that things could have been much, much worse. But I do still miss the bastards. None of them wanted to join me on the open seas though, so here I am. Tracking you down with a spell in order to find out whether a ghost from my past is truly alive."

"Is that the only reason you're here?" The question hung in the air, especially when their eyes met. Just when Malark was about to answer with what he hoped was a witty, flirtatious retort, Emerald neighed a warning and his eyes were drawn to his horse. Malark's half-elf eyes picked up a party about 45 feet away through the trees. They seemed armed but not heading in their direction. Still it didn't hurt to be cautious and Malark quieted Emerald and prepared himself for a quick attack if needed.

As he reached to put the fur in his left hand away into his components pouch he found it was empty. A quick look around showed the violet haired half-elf nowhere in sight and all evidence of her camp had been cleared away. Fortunately for him, she hadn't touched his gear or his gold.

"Funny thing, those spells. Even Locate Creature won't be able to find me without this bit of bloodhound fur, and I doubt you're going to get to shave another dog anytime soon. So, it looks like I'll be on my way then." The familiar voice came from the trees and once again Malark looked up to see a cheeky grin flash his way. Violet eyes sparkles with triumph.

His tone became desperate "Don't go near Hookhand, he was a monster then and if he's back, he'll come back worse. This won't end well. I don't know what you want but let me help you!"

"I told you before, my business is my own. Whether I'm dealing with a pirate, a copycat, a ghost, or a corpse the fact is that bastard has plundered something I want. And if there's one thing you should know about me Malark os Mys Shari, it's that I get what I want."

As she turned to dart away through the trees she stopped before turning back one more time. "In that same vein I don't think it's a good idea to share my name with a wizard I'm fleeing from. But all the same, if we ever do run into each other again handsome, you can call me M."

Malark cursed as she disappeared into the trees but his move to track her down on Emerald was interrupted by sounds of a pitched fight as the armed group he spotted earlier was moving to attack a merchant party travelling the road.

Making a split decision, he turned Emerald towards the screams in the hope he could save the lives of the innocent. He readied a spell to cast on horseback and came to a realization right before the ice flew from his hand.

Some days it's just not worth it to stalk your crush.