The elf made her way over to Alder Street, acting as casual as possible. She ended up resting on a bench and acted as if she was reading the paper. She crossed one leg over the other and glanced at the pages while looking up periodically, searching for the hooded figure. Reports said that whoever it was tended to hang around this area before heading off into the forest. Granted that Inspector Nilan chose to contact her in the early morning, Kerii only assumed that the potential culprit would come later. That being said though, Nilan never actually said those words out loud, nor did he say that it was likely that the person wearing the hood potentially already passed through that day. Despite the possibility that the hooded figure could be long gone at this point, the elf thought that she would stake out the place for a while. If nothing cropped up, she would move on. If worse came to worst, she would just tell Inspector Nilan that in spite of her searching, the hooded figure just never showed up. That would be understandable. After all, not everyone went to the same locations all the time. In fact, it would be rather idiotic to do such a thing, especially while both dressing and acting suspicious or dodgy. The person had to know that someone would eventually leave an anonymous tip, right? Perhaps this person was a novice, but that would not explain how the poisonous magical plants seemed to be so potent. Or maybe, the unidentified was not even related to the floral incidents at all. At this point, there were endless possibilities to consider. Even Kerii herself, in spite of her experience in this chain of events, did not know which theory she believed in. Everything had somewhat of an equal possibility of being correct. The only way to find out is if she were to find this person and follow them.

As luck would have it, the elf eventually did see someone of a masculine build wearing a hood. His hands were shoved in his pockets and his head was held down. The way he walked was rather stiff, implying that he was potentially nervous or agitated. Once he had his back turned towards Kerii, she set down her paper and began to follow him. She stayed at a far enough distance so that he would not notice she was there among the rather large crowd of Orchidians, but close enough that she never lost sight of him. Being that he was slightly taller than the average man, this was not much of an issue. The tricky part though was following him into the forest. Just like the reports had said, he went straight through Alder Street to one of the areas that opened into the forest. There was not a lot of open land separating this part of Orchidia from the Forest Outskirts, so there were more places for the elf to remain hidden, but once he went into the forest, she would have to do her best to stay silent.

WC: 1026+516=1542/2000

Kerii was careful while the followed the hooded man into the woods. She was unsure about his capabilities as a mage, so at the moment she would remain to be rather passive. She followed him as a hunter would stalk its prey, as quiet as a mouse. The funny thing was, Kerii actually did have a little experience in the realm of hunting, as her father often took her out to do so when she was younger in an attempt to train her with the skills every Wood Elf should be able to have. Though she hadn't gone hunting in several years, her body and muscles went smoothly with the motions as if she had never ceased the activity to begin with. Despite this though, she was nowhere near to being as stealthy as an expert huntress. Once she actually took that into consideration, Kerii was rather surprised that the hooded figure did not yet recognize she was there. Surely, if he did, he would launch an attack at her, unless he knew she was there and was leading her into a trap. Even if that was a possibility, she could not turn around. Not now. That could prove to be even more risky, so she would just continue in her pursuit for now. If the culprit tried to pull anything on her, she would be prepared.

Eventually, the man stopped walking. He fished a vial out of his pocket. Curious, Kerii shifted to get a better angle. There was some sort of strange liquid in it, and upon uncorking the bottle, he promptly poured it into the soil. Clearly, he wasn't merely disposing of something, or else he wouldn't have gone so far out in secret to do such a thing. Stuffing the now empty vial back into his pocket, the man seemed to notice that Kerii had been following him; however, rather than fighting, he fled. The elf wasted no time. Although confused, she ran after him. He was fast, but she was faster. Not only did Wood Elves tend to be quicker on their feet than humans, but the forest was her terrain. While he stumbled on roots and was hit with branches, Kerii swiftly dodged them with such ease that it could be seen as graceful. Needless to say, it was surprisingly easy to catch him. She put the magic dampening handcuffs on his wrists and dragged him all the way back to Inspector Nilan's office in Orchidia. "I'm back," she said as she walked through the door. "I found him, and he poured this into the forest's soil." Nilan held the vial up to the ceiling light and furrowed his eyebrows. "Hmm... I'll give this to the scientists. But first, tell me what was in it," he said, now directing his attention towards the hooded man. He looked away and refused to talk. "Look. We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way. Which is it gonna be?" He still remained silent. Inspector Nilan sighed. "This can take a while. I'll take him from here. Thank you for your work, Kerii. Here is your reward." He dug for a wad of Jewels and handed them to her. "Glad I was able to help." Maybe now that she had captured someone who was at least part of this ordeal, perhaps some more information would be revealed.

WC: 1542+566=2108/2000