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Step 1: Capture
Win: 70-100 (-5 for Drakeins, +20 for trying to capture this creature four times before) 55-100
Rolled: 54 <- WHAT KIND OF TOMFOOLERY IS THIS?!
Outcome: Fail
Words: 570

Samael gazed down in horror. After a brief paused, he gasped and jumped back, alarmed at the sight he'd seen. A tiny, sick little creature, tossed from its nest and to his death. If Drakein were like Dactyl, then his young charge wouldn't have had a chance to live... And Crowell! What was he to say? He couldn't possibly return with this awful news! Maybe if he caught another he could just hide it from the little Keindred until it hatched and then, viola! There'd be a new, perfectly healed, adorable little Dactyl for Crowell to enjoy! Yes, it would work. All he'd have to do was find and obtain another egg. Quickly! Before it got too suspicious. Crowell wouldn't even know, surely!

Already feeling guilty, Sam glided around the crags, carefully avoiding the nest he'd placed the young one in not too long ago. He felt more jumpy and nervous than he had at even his first attempt. Like every Dactyl was scowling at him for harming their little one. He shivered, but continued on until he found a suitable nest. Two adults were chattering at each other in it, looking playful and young, and happy. Sam abruptly ruined it with a roar that caught them off guard. With a screech, they stared up at him, leaping from the nest to fly at him. Sam glided past them, holding his crafted net above the egg.

As he hovered over the egg, he only saw one thing; that tiny creature being pushed from its nest, falling and landing in a crumpled, broken mass in the rocks below. Sam shuddered at the thought, leaning away from the nest. He genuinely wasn't sure if he had it in him, anymore. It was hardly worth catching if he had to watch that sadness again. For the hatchling, or for Crowell. How was he supposed to tell that young one that he'd killed his newfound pet? Shaking, Samael left the nest alone, gliding from the cliffside to the ground below. The Dactyls looked down at him and screeched, but decided not to follow today. They had a nest to guard.

Sam could only look up them, feeling lost and depressed. He'd wanted to obtain one so badly, for Crowell's sake, of course, but now, every time he so much as looked at a Dactyl, all he could see was the hatchling's demise. And it was eating away at him. He didn't want to return empty-handed, but after rethinking it, Crowell was probably smart enough to realize that if he brought one home, it probably wasn't the one that came from the egg they'd looked after together.

As he gazed up, Sam realized that these Dactyls didn't fret the loss of some random egg. In fact, they didn't know or care about his part in its demise. The sickness... There had been nothing he (or Crowell) could've done about it. If he'd let it hatch in the wild, it would've met the same fate, anyway. So, he couldn't give up! He just... hadn't found the perfectly right pet, yet. Admittedly, he thought it'd be somewhat less challenging, but that didn't matter! He'd continue hunting until he found exactly what he was looking for! So, for now, he'd return home. Tell Crowell what had happened (maybe not in so much detail), but the young Keindred would understand. Tomorrow, he'd fly back and begin his hunt again.