Take heart dear bored masses! For I have not yet succumb to the shadow of disease! Tis true! I have however been afflicted with something far worse… the skyrim addiction has once again set in and even taking the time to finish this already half written chapter required extreme willpower.

While on his usual afternoon stroll, Kaaf had found, to his surprise, that the rest of the village seemed to be joining him. The market was so full of people that he was subconsciously shrinking in on himself, hoping to avoid pushing anyone. But he didn't mind the company, he liked running into people he knew and saying hello. There was one person in particular that he would have loved to find out on the streets.

'speak of the devil…' quite a few yards away, Kaaf could see the back of Nasira's head, her familiar braid swaying slightly as people passed behind her. She seemed to have been looking at a selection of colorful shawls before making her way further away from him. There were too many people all converging on that spot at once, he wouldn't be able to catch up, but perhaps she would hear if he called her.

Crispy golden crust, flaking off onto the stranger's chest and hand with every bite taken, the still steaming filling, even from several feet away she could make out the dried herbs dotting the various vegetables, practically falling out they had stuffed it so full. Nasira could smell the spices, drawing her ever closer to the unsuspecting man as he enjoyed his afternoon snack. She would find out where he had gotten that hand pie.

Filling the, normally empty, space near the town gate were numerous stalls and caravans, cramped tightly into whatever space they could find. With the weather growing more favorable for travel, it was no surprise that a flea market had made its way into town, and it seemed the entire village was taking the opportunity to peruse the merchant's wares. To pick that specific stall out of this mess without any direction would probably take at least twenty minutes, if not far longer. And she wanted her snack that very moment. The woman needed that hand pie.

Before the hungry woman could get close enough to ask the man where he had gotten the delectable morsel, she was startled by the faint call of a familiar voice. Kaaf was in the crowd somewhere to her left, and calling her name. Spotting him was no challenge, he was waving his arm above his head like a beacon. Though she found it odd that he was facing away from her, staring intently into the densest part of the crowd, while calling her name.

Had she not heard him after all? He had totally lost sight of her now, the people had closed in around her form, leaving Kaaf rather disheartened. He had been looking forward to browsing the vendors with her. It was no use now; he wouldn't be able to get through that wall of people. If he continued walking, he might see her again somewhere else. Turning around, coming face to face with the very woman he had just seen disappear in the opposite direction, he could do nothing more than blink. Was he seeing things?

"voices tend carry much better if you try to aim them toward the person you want to talk to" The amusement in her voice was clear, though he didn't miss the underlying question in her tone.

"I thought… I saw you over by that stall…" pointing to the aforementioned location, he still couldn't bring himself to quite grasp the situation. Were there perhaps… two Nasiras? Not that he would mind, that would simply mean more chances for him to interact with her.

She made a grand show of scouring the area with her eyes before looking back to him. "Are you sure? I certainly don't see me anywhere." Before Kaaf could respond, Nasira turned back to where she had just been, her eyes widening and her mouth falling open in a gasp, having remembered something of great importance. "No! where did he go?! He got away..."

"Who got aw-"

"Help me find him. We're looking for a short man covered in pastry flakes." Without waiting for a reply, Nasira marched off in the direction the man had been going, expecting Kaaf would follow behind.

More than a little confused, Kaaf managed to ask one of the many questions plaguing his mind. "And why are we looking for this man exactly?" Unfortunately, she was much too busy with her investigation to listen to him.

Three minutes later, Nasira finally gave up her search for the mysterious stranger, without even noticing that her companion hadn't bothered to assist, and instead decided to simply find the source of the pies on her own. More than a little disappointed and quite put out that Kaaf had been the one to distract her, she came to a conclusion. "Since it is your fault he got away, once we find that stall, you'll be buying me a snack."

"Alright then…" Unaware of how it was, indeed, his fault, he left it be. Though, Kaaf wasn't really sure why she was telling him this. When he always offered to pay for her when they went out together regardless, it seemed rather redundant.

Almost two weeks had gone by since Altair had spoken with Nasira and finding an excuse to speak with her again was more challenging than he imagined. They could hardly even be considered acquaintances still, and she was difficult to find outside the kitchens. He had seen her a few times, of course, practically jogging to or from the entrance to the kitchen. Interrupting her when she looked so busy, especially for something insignificant, would have been rude.

Currently, Altair was walking though the market, trying to better his understanding of females. Watching the passing crowds, he listened to their conversations, kept tabs on the things most commonly gazed upon. Even to him this seemed a bit… unconventional, but every mission started with observation and information gathering. Why would this be any different?

As Altair was watching one particular couple, who seemed to be having a very serious discussion about a root vegetable, he heard a sentence that drew his attention behind him. Or, more accurately, the name spoken at the end of the sentence. "Giving a horse alcohol before sending it with an assassin was a bad idea to begin with, I never should have let him talk me into it. You seem quite invested in this hand pie, Nasira. Makes me want one for myself."

Nasira. But she was with an unknown man. There was a slight discomfort that come with that knowledge. She had said herself that she wasn't seeing anyone, but… he would have to look into it himself. While he was at it, he could watch for her interests as well. He was out to get information on women, why not get it straight from the one woman he was concerned with?

Blending in with a group headed in the same direction as Nasira and her escort, he made sure to stay just close enough to listen to their conversation. A word was circulating his thoughts as he trailed after the two. Stalker. He quickly put that thought aside. He had no intention of making a habit of this behavior.

Finding her interests would have been simpler had she seemed to be interested in anything at all. However, she merely passed the stalls, glancing at all of them before turning away. She looked almost disappointed as she carried on. Most of the conversation was meaningless drivel. At that very moment, she was complaining to the man with her, Kaaf, as she had called him, about her hands smelling too much of onions and garlic all the time.

The two were so enraptured by their conversation and the sights around them that he had no need of hiding at all. Any maneuvers he made to remain out of sight were purely habitual. What could she have been looking for that would take so much of her attention?

This Kaaf was looking at her with an expression of all too obvious admiration, yet Nasira was somehow quite oblivious to it. Or perhaps she was simply ignoring it. A couple of times he had spotted the boy attempting to grab her hand, or take her arm, but every time she was distracted by a stall or a person walking past and moved out of reach before he could touch her. Each time, he felt oddly amused by the boy's failure.

On one such occasion, Kaaf had very nearly brushed her hand when she once again moved, her arm coming up to wave at a passing woman. The woman, holding a half-eaten hand pie, looked confused at being called out. "Excuse me, but where did you get that?" Nasira gestured to the food in the other woman's hand.

Swallowing the bite she'd just taken, she stumbled over the directions some. "Um, turn left there and go… six… no, seven vendors down the line, on the left"

"Thank you so much." Grabbing Kaaf by the arm, Nasira increased the speed of her pace, to reach her destination. Had she really been searching for a snack this entire time?

Taking the two pies handed to him, Kaaf shifted his gaze to Nasira. "If I give you this does that mean we're on a date?" his playful grin as he waited for her response was a bit irritating to Altair. He couldn't quite explain why but imagining Nasira on a date did not sit particularly well with him. But what would it really matter? He barely knew her; they had only properly spoken once.

However, her almost jovial response quickly alleviated his irritation. "my answer is the same as the last time you bought me something: no. Now hand over the food." Kaaf didn't look too put out by her rejection, Altair could only assume this was a sort of routine for them. At least from the way she had acted, they didn't seem to be courting each other. Though the boy might well be trying to woo her. Not that it would make a difference if she was uninterested.

Following the two any longer would serve only to make Altair more uncomfortable. He could still hear the faint whisper of that word in his mind… stalker… No, he was merely trying to ascertain the situation. He had come all this way though, and he was a bit hungry himself… he may as well get one of those pies for himself, see why she had spent so long searching for them. Then he would head back to the castle, he had put off his work long enough.

Altair had gone out. That was…. Unprecedented. The large assassin rarely, if ever, went out for leisure. Malik wanted to know why. So, he had followed Altair through the streets of Masyaf as he had stalked that woman from the kitchen and her partner. Malik couldn't say he was all too shocked at his friend's underhanded methods. What did shock him, was how easily he had managed to tail the other man.

'He must be losing his edge. Maybe he's already becoming domesticated'

Attempting to push Altair and that woman together had started as nothing more than a joke, yet the man had taken it quite seriously, it seemed. If given the chance, Malik supposed, he could try to help Altair with this endeavor. Perhaps he could entertain himself with it. Altair was too much of a workaholic and didn't pass on enough of his own work to allow Malik much to keep occupied with. Even after all this time, he never had learned how to share responsibility.

Convincing himself it was for the sake of the brotherhood, Altair would burn out and put everyone at risk if work was all he had in life, Malik began his scheming. But before anything else… he too wanted one of those pies.