the rot at the roots is the root of the problem

Shrieks of laughter filled the orchard and Gilda tried to jump forward away from her sister. Thanks to the dense underbrush, she collided directly with Kor instead, copping a good poking from those quills over her shoulders. It was nothing new really, if mum's quills weren't poking her, Kor's were. "Ahh! A Kraken!" Gilda shrieked shrilly opening her jaws to snap towards one of her sister's legs playfully. It was hard to keep her breath with all this giggling, and she really should try to put some distance between them, but her heart was still thundering from the way her sister had burst through the bushes so suddenly.

"speech"