[h3][color=lightblue]TEAM RUTABAGA[/color][/h3]

Observing the trapped felidrake intently, Fiammetta judged that the task at hand seemed easy enough.

"Hmmph! That's it? Hardly a task worthy of a noble. Just you watch, I shall return with the largest felidrake of any of you!"

Despite what she said though, she adjusted her gauntlets and grabbed a few pieces of meat with which to bait one of the fiendishly adorable critters. And it didn't take her long to spot one as she wandered through the woods. A runt, clearly still a kitten and the smallest of the litter judging by its size and the way its empty stomach rumbled. Fearful but curious, it stuck its head out of a bush and chirped at Fiammetta. The malnourished animal eyed the meat she carried hungrily. 

"Hmmm..." Fiammetta said, on the fence about offering it a piece of meat. "No, too small. It would be a disgrace for me to return to the group brandishing something so tiny. I am sorry little one, but the house of Anzivino has no time for weaklings."

A tree behind her rustled, and she caught sight of a much larger animal, almost the size of a dog. Her eyes lit up. Excellent! Truly this was a felidrake worthy of the Anzivino family name!

She approached it holding her cage in one hand and a piece of meat in another. Catching sight of her, the larger animal growled, its hair standing on edge as it prepared to pounce.

"Here~," she cooed. "Come here. Yes..." 

The large felidrake hissed, but relented in the face of tasty treats. Cautiously, it sniffed the meat with interest. Fiammetta grinned.

"It's your lucky day, felidrake! You get to be captured by a noblewoman of the house Anzivino!"

She lunged for the cat, grabbing it roughly with her steel gauntlets before trying to force it into the cage. Immediately the felidrake started to bite, claw and hiss, scratching her cheek before teleporting out of her arms and kicking wet dirt in her eyes as it scrambled away with an entire cut of her meat. 

"Owww!" she said as she rubbed some of the dirt from her eyes. "You... you miserable little ingrate! I offer you a chance to be a part of house Anzivino and this is how you repay me? I'll make sure you are punished for your hubris, [i]cat.[/i] Come here, you!"

What ensued was a comically literal game of cat and mouse with Fiammetta chasing the felidrake all across the desolate patch of forest she'd chosen to search in, cussing and spitting and generally "roughing it" in a way she never thought she personally would have to stoop to. 

The battle raged on until the felidrake had claimed all but the tiniest scraps of bait, leaving Fiammetta sweaty, dirty, alone, and completely defeated.

"That... [i]stupid[/i] little cat! Mangy stray! That no-good, worthless, low-to-the-ground unappreciative son of a mother born from the bleakest- rrrrggghhhhhhh!"

She groaned in frustration, collapsing to the ground and about ready to cry. It was okay, no one would see her out here. And honestly...

"What kind of noble can't catch a single cat?!" she said, berating herself. "I can't return to the others like this... not after those things I said..."

Behind her, the tiny felidrake poked its curious little head out of a bush...