defective; return to sender

Both girls had finished their traps and Vanta resigned herself to idling nervously for the moment of truth. Would their barricade work? Was it a bear?? Would they even survive this day??? Azure disappeared into another tunnel and Vanta wished desperately to follow him, to hide beneath his thick limbs for some semblance of protection against tooth and claw larger then herself. When his voice called back to them, she damn near peed herself. Sending a panicked glance toward Kite at his words and then back at the open cavern entrance, she stood so fast that she nearly toppled and booked it over to the cave mouth to stand guard. Trembling hard, her toes making rapid clicking sounds as they vibrated anxiously against the stone.

And then the creature appeared, a heavy dark mask upon it's face and a long, ringed tail. It wasn't a bear. It wasn't a bear! Vanta exhaled relief, and that exhale turned into almost a laugh. A crazed sort of laugh that said 'I'm not going to die today!'. However the raccoon was still fleeing, and Vanta was forced to swallow the laugh and choke on it as she dove to interrupt it's escape. Herding it toward Kite so that Kite could herd it toward her barricade.

"Speech"