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Just to be contrary Elleth procrastinated as long as possible, which truthfully, turned out to be just long enough to rest up and eat something. Their meal was simple, the rest of her honey cakes and the dried jerky Kovu had packed away. The tamed Draugur had stolen a strip when Kovu made the mistake of tossing it towards Elleth, much to both of their amusement. It seemed as if creature was a bottomless pit, with the amount of food it had consumed. "Looks like I'll be going hunting a lot more, if only to feed this thing." Kovu griped, words muffled from the dried meat that was crammed into his mouth. Elleth chuckled at his puffed out cheeks and then pretended to have done no such thing.

But the night was getting later and her window of opportunity was closing with it. She groaned as her bones popped when she stood, trash safely tucked away in her bag. She rubbed at the base of her tail, or rather, the spot where it was slowly growing in. Kovu, a man who was a few years younger than her had already finished developing but Elleth? Nope, a slow bloomer just like her father. Even her third eye was coming in faster than her tail.

She mourned her lack of growth simply because of how useful that tail would have been.

She also mourned the fact that her net now had two large holes in it and that she'd still have to use it that night. She padded over to its remains and took a moment to detangle it. Laid out as it was Elleth saw that it wasn't as hopeless a cause as she'd originally thought. She'd just have to be faster with the retrieval.

Together the trio made their way back to where the Draugar was originally caught, the tamed Draugur sitting docile on Kovu's leather arm braces. The archer made no show of it, but Elleth could tell that he thought the bird was heavy. It was one thing she knew about him best, was that he complained about the insignificant things and was quiet about the things that did bother him.

Elleth didn't expect to see the flock when they finally got to the spot, but was surprised at all the still forms perched on the branches in the area. There was a collective rustle, much like the sound of leaves sliding together as the birds fluffed up. The tamed Draugur fluffed as well, and Elleth knew that if it wasn't too heavy to fly, it would have taken off already. Elleth eyed the mass and wondered if they would attack them. Her dagger wouldn't be of much use against the amount of birds there was, but between it and her net she could at least attempt to protect Kovu. The archer wouldn't be of much use in such close combat, but he could pick off the ones that were farther away.

She tightened her grip on the net, shifted her stance, and did something remarkably stupid. She threw it at the closest tree. The Draugur let out a collective cry that caused her to flinch and make an aborted move to cover her ears. The sound of wing beats, the wind whistling over bare branches and leaves rubbing together filled the air and steadily grew softer. The Draugur retreated rather than attack. It was their mating season and the time when they were hunted the most.

Slowly Elleth straightened, the echo of sound from behind her told her that Kovu was fine. She dared not look back at him, instead focusing her gaze on the tree line. Her net was shrouded in darkness and looked as if it was barely hanging onto the tree. With a sigh she slinked over to it, mentally berating herself for truly messing up an opportune moment. She tugged at the net and almost jumped out of her skin when the net started to pitch in the opposite direction. With her fingers wrapped around the rope she could feel the tremors that ran through it. Excitement bubbled in the pit of her stomach. Had she captured one? Just by being stupid and impulsive?

She was never going to tell anyone how this happened, her pride wouldn't stand the beating.

Swallowing Elleth carefully tugged the net down, knowing the holes in it would make for an easy escape route. The captured Draugar tried to get free many times, and only succeeded in getting one of its wing into the hole and getting it stuck when its feathers caught on the down pull. It was hissing it's displeasure in a most vehement manner by the time Elleth got it to the ground.

She took her time wrapping the netting around its body, noting the size difference between this one and the one she'd caught before. This one was smaller, perhaps younger, and that could have been the reason why she'd caught it so easily. It wasn't as experienced in evading danger like the others had been. But that was alright. Younger meant easier to train, easier to get it to trust her. It had no real interaction with the denizen of the world who would wish to hunt it. She could work with that.

Rate: 50-100

Bonuses:
+10 for Blood Moon
+20 for Familiarity

Result:
Step One: Caught
Step Two: Tamed
Step Three: Trained
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Muttering ideas to herself Elleth shifted her weight, swallowing down a curse as the blood flow trickled back into her legs at the movement. She didn't know how long she sat there, just petting her catch. She only knew that the rolling clouds looked a bit lighter when she looked up through the trees. With a groan Elleth stood, knees popping. The Draugur jerked, its head snapping up and around towards her as much as it could. Its wings tried to mantle and it failed, the drape of the net still enough to keep it captive.

Elleth thought that it might have been lulled into sleep at some point, for it to have startled in such a way. It was a good sign.

There was a rush of wings as something large flew by, one wing clipping her shoulder and almost sent her to the ground. A fairly large rodent was dropped near her feet before the shadow wheeled around. Elleth jerked her knife free and turned on one heel, only to see Kovu and his Draugur standing behind her. From the s**t eating grin on his face he knew just what he'd done to her.

She bared her teeth at him and flipped him off before leaning over to pick up the kill. She made short work of skinning and gutting it. She also made it a point to toss the bones at her smug insufferable friend. Yes she was well aware that he was superior than she was when it came to stealth and hunting and just about everything else. Huffing she fed strips of still hot meat to her Draugur. The first thing she taught it was to not snap the meat from her fingers (and almost take her fingers with it). The second thing she taught it was how to sit on her arm. It was heavy and the talons dug painfully into her skin, even through the wrappings that wound up to her elbows. She was going to have to invest in proper leather bracers and perhaps something for her shoulders, should her burden wish to sit there.

She would also have to think up a name for it. But that could come later, once she'd gotten home and cleaned up. She motioned for Kovu to follow her as she started towards one of the swamps many exits. As she walked Kovu told her all the little tricks he'd managed to teach his Draugur during the hours she'd spent acclimating hers to her touch. He even was nice enough to help her train her little one up some more.