Dusk

Chapter 9 - The Photo

"Wake up Anisa!"

Light shone through the small window of the room, shining on Anisa's ginger coat and radiating warmth; being cut off by the cold paws of her fox friend jumping up and down on her back.
"Five more minutes mum..." Amara stifled her giggle, finding it funny that Anisa had just mistaken her for her mother. The Lycanroc opened her eyes a bit, searching her surrounding with a cloudy vision; no stone walls, no angry Dash or her loving mother, only the flowery yellow decorations of Amara's room.

Anisa shaked a bit, muffling "I'm awake" to her friend so she would climb off and let her get up; stretching afterwards, Amara placed a bowl filled with a purple, pink liquid by Anisa while smiling a little. "What's...this Amara?" Anisa sniffed the bowl, gathering the scent of forest berries and Moomoo Milk; it was a weird smell, yet it was a small of some of her favourite berries.

It smells so sweet!

While Amara started to explain, Anisa's tongue reached into the soup, drinking a bit before her eyes grew. Leaving her explanation there, seeing Anisa's attention was more on the soup, Amara made her way over to a small bookcase (it being her hight) and pulled out a thin, red book. "Hey Anisa! Look at this" she flipped the pages before landing on the one she wanted and moved it over to the Lycanroc, who was still sipping away at the soup. "What is it?"
"It's my knitting diary! It's where I sketch out designs for scarves, hats and so on."

Anisa cleaned her snout and looked over; deeply drawn lines lay on the page, forming different pictures of a long scarf at different angles along with small, scruffy writing littered around the images.
"Did you do these Amara?" Anisa skimmed through the book before stopping at a page that caught her attention; only reading "Nightshade" before the book snapped shut.
"Nothing to see there, so how about we go downstairs?" The book was shoved back into its rightful place and Amara rushed downstairs, taking the now empty bowl down with her, leaving Anisa to fully explore the room; being too tired last night to have a full look around.

Most of the room was covered in a light, summer yellow with pictures of pressed flowers hanging up in decorative places; the biggest being the sunflower that hung over Amara's small, cushioned bed.
It was...surprisingly nice, being all alien to the girl; shouts were heard from downstairs calling out for Anisa to come down and join the small family. Walking past a chipped desk, her clawed foot accidently connected with the wood, knocking a frame off it's stand on onto the floor below with a clunk; catching Anisa's attention.

She ran her claw over the frame, careful not to scratch it in anyway while looking at the slightly ripped, scratched black and white photo held within the metal.
Anisa recognised Amara and her parents instantly, smiling and laughing at the camera with two other Pokemon; a little grey hound sat silent next to the happy-go-lucky white Vulpix and smiled. It was a bit crooked with a sharp, intimidating fang sticking out from under her lip but it was a smile none the less.

Hunched over the grey pup was a slim and glaring feline, her fur being mostly blacked out to the camera quality.
Her features, the way she stared at Anisa through the photo of time, to her body language; standing straight with a frown upon her face, seeming to be fed up with the group around her. It was enough to make the Lycanroc look away, putting the photo back up where it rightfully belongs.

Hearing the paw steps coming up the stairs, Amara entering the room with a frown on her face, quickly caught Anisa's attention without fail.
"You okay? I've called you a couple of times already" Amara questioned. Anisa moved towards the door, apologising for her time wasting and climbed down the stairs, the little white fox looking into her room with suspicion before she followed suit of her friend.
Amara's parents met them both at the bottom of the stairs, Anabeth questioning the Lycanroc if she slept well, liked the soup and asking other random questions before her husband butted in "so what are you two going to be doing today?"
"Well...we could just hang outside or something. What do you wanna do Anisa since this is your first time out of Lycanroc territory?" The cold air danced around the duo again, causing Anisa to shiver a bit from it and Amara's scowl; sending small glares at her parents who only stood and watched the two...weirdly.