I'm running out of patience to pretend, this isn't how I'll let it end

Avantika was too lost in her own panic to even notice the wolf approaching until she spoke, or else she almost definitely would have run away. This dark, gloomy forest probably had plenty of places to hide so long as she could scare off anything else that lived within it that might be dangerous. But she had no time to even think about escaping now; she'd been caught as surely as in a hunting trap. Her eyes darted over the body of the stranger. She was huge and heavily built, a good half a foot taller than Avantika and much more massive, with small antlers adorning her head. She looked like a fighter. She looked like maybe Avantika wouldn't win that fight.

"Cowering in the dark will not fix your fears," she had said. It didn't sound like a threat, but Avantika's poor heart wasn't slowing down regardless. Without her notice, her tail uncurled and stuck out straight behind her, and her fur bushed out, her head lowering still to protect her neck. "And what will?" she growled, realizing only then that her teeth were already bared and then forcing herself to at least look a little more relaxed, though she still didn't smile. She wanted this woman to go away. Or...

"Fight me," she demanded. She would be less scared then; she always felt better when she was actively doing something. And if she could defeat this wolf, that would show something. That would make it okay that she had found her in such a shameful state. It would prove that though she was scared, she wasn't weak. "Just a spar, or something. Or are you scared?" she taunted, blood rushing in her ears.

"Speech"