Chapter one: Among the hidden

(a/n- okay, brief explanation on this one. I'd liken this to a normal style of AU (with quite a few animals involved might I add… that'll make more sense in a second.). In other words, no grimm… there still are faunus though. Also, I'll have to take some serious liberties with some of the characters here. You'll see what I mean in a second. I don't plan on updating this one as often as JALR agency either. Put it like this, JALR Agency is 75% plot/action and 25% fluff? Well, this is more like 50% fluff and 50% action/plot (note: ratios subject to change based on author mood and or public opinion). Not recommended for someone wanting a heavy plot. Alright, I've talked enough, let's get to it. Oh wait! Also, this is written from Jaune's point of view. Okay, now let's get to it!)

I yawned, stretching out slightly as I rubbed away at my eyes, trying to get the sleep out of them. "Another day in Vale." I absently thought as I tried to move. It was only when I heard the whimpering of complaint that I looked down, smiling slightly at what I saw. It was a small husky puppy, gray and black fur so soft and long it gave her the impression of a little snowball. I reached over, scratching behind her right ear to try and wake her up. "Come on girl, it's time to get up." I said. As if on cue, said puppy opened it's eyes, silver one's meeting blue as she barked, high pitched and somewhat loud. I reached over, picking her up with one hand before I moved her off the bed, setting her on the ground. I swung my legs around, setting them next to her as she reached up, scratching at my bare leg with her tiny claws. "I've got to get a better lock on that little cage of yours." I muttered, looking at the corner of the room.

In the corner was an opened cage, the lock opened and slightly wet. I looked back down, picking up the little puppy with both hands. I held her at arm's length as she lolled her tongue out, panting slightly towards me. "Aren't you a clever little girl?" I said, moving her over to my lap. I slowly moved my hand down her back, enjoying her soft fur. I saw her lean down, giving what may have been a smile as she contently laid in my lap. To think that a puppy, not even two months old, would be smart enough to open her own cage. Who'd have thought? Maybe five minutes later I realized I still needed to get everything done, so I picked her up, setting her on the ground. She gave out a little whimper, but I just smiled down at her. "It's alright Ruby, we'll play later. Go get your sister!" I said, slipping into that babyish voice I tended to use with her. She barked, skittering out the open door towards the main room. In the meantime, I went the opposite direction, heading into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

When I walked out, I smiled at myself in the mirror. I was wearing what I normally did, a simple pair of jeans and a T-shirt. I heard a light skittering before I turned, smiling down. I saw Ruby, as I expected, rushing towards me, as well as a larger dog. This one was older, though still fairly young. She had a long, yellow coat, needed to get her to the barber soon. Oum knows I couldn't do it. She barked, sitting down in front of me as she normally did. I reached over, rubbing behind her ear as strong as I could. Yang wasn't like Ruby, I couldn't be gentle with her. Guess that was in part from her mother being a fox and her father being a Dhole. I turned my attention back to the little husky puppy, "Guess you didn't get anything from your daddy huh?" I thought. I stood, walking towards the main room before I looked back, smiling wider as I saw Yang bite the back of Ruby's neck, carrying her over with her as she followed me.

I walked back in the main room, my eyes widening a bit as I saw the large, german shepherd striding towards me. "Heel girl!" I said, holding out my hand. He obeyed, stopping just before me and barking twice, deep and low pitched. I looked around, going through my mental checklist like I always did in the morning. In front of me was the glass counter, the glass still cracked near the top like always. I looked to the left, seeing all the dog toys exactly where they belonged, on the right shelves and everything. I opened the drawer near the cash register, seeing the revolver and switchblade. "Alright, securities just fine." I thought. Granted, I'd never had to use them, Pyrrha scared most burglars off pretty easily, but still, it never hurt to be prepared. I walked over to the side, tapping on the glass of the fish tanks as they started swimming. I didn't see any dead fish, so that was good and normal. "Alright, ready for the day." I muttered, smiling slightly as I walked towards the two glass doors.

I flipped on the lights, then flipped over the closed sign to the open side. I turned, walking back towards the three dogs as Ruby skittered over to me again, barking up at me. I chuckled as I reached down, picking up Ruby and cradling her in one arm, lightly stroking her in the other. The second, and I mean the second I got back behind the counter, I heard the doorbell chime. "Welcome to the Beacon Pet Center! How may I help you?" I asked out of habit, looking towards the person that just entered. Though, the second I realized who it was, I dropped the formalities. "Oh, hello Ozpin." I said, smiling slightly as I kept stroking Ruby. The older man smiled at me, his cane thudding against the ground as he walked over. He had on the same green suit he normally did, his eyes peaking out over what I guessed were his reading glasses.

"Hello Mr. Arc." he said, holding out a hand. I stopped petting Ruby for a second, shaking his hand quickly before I went right back to petting the little husky in my arms. I coughed, looking over to the left, "You're here to pick up Glynda right?" I asked. He simply nodded. I set Ruby down on the ground, much to her dismay, before I walked around the counter, heading for the door marked 'Adoption center'. Though granted, I still used it as a place to store certain pets if need be. I pressed open the door, sniffing the air as I smelled the familiar scent of the animals I kept in here. I walked in, smiling at some of the dogs. "Hey Jacob, Russell, Cardin, Jonathan, Denka," I just kept saying, going past the pets that were kept in the cages back here. No one had adopted them yet, but I figured someone would eventually.

Finally, I came to the end of the hall, smiling down at the large dog behind the bars. I reached around my belt, grabbing my key ring and unlocking the cage. The sheepdog bounded out, heading straight towards Ozpin. "Hold on there girl!" Ozpin said, laughing as Glynda bounded up, licking the side of his face as I knew she did often. It was a few minutes later when she calmed down, contently rubbing against his side. He smiled at me, "I have to thank you for taking care of her, I couldn't find anyone else to look after an old sheepdog." he said, rubbing behind Glynda's ear as he did so. I nodded, waving it off with a hand. "Anytime Ozpin. Need to get anything else? Pyrrha can only guard the cash register for so long…" I said, gesturing behind us at the large german shepherd. He chuckled, shaking his head, "No no, this should be fine. Goodbye Mr. Arc." he said, walking through the doorway. I followed, shutting it behind me as he walked out of the store. "See ya later Ozpin!" I said, casually waving out the door.

I looked down, seeing Ruby looking at me expectantly. I sighed, rolling my eyes as I picked her up again, gently running my hand down her back and cradling her in my other arm again. "You are such a handful sometimes." I said, smiling down at the little husky. As if to respond, she just looked up, barking at me. I sighed, gently rocking her slightly, "But you are so worth it." I muttered, lightly scratching behind her ear. I saw her little tail wagging as she let out a little bark. I looked over at Pyrrha, seeing her standing sentry and looking at the door as always. Trained and ready. Yang, on the other hand, was just laying down, looking up at me. At first it was hard to even get close to Ruby, what with the way Yang seemed to treat her almost like her own. Though, a month later and here we were, me carrying her little sister as she just watched was a pretty normal thing around here.

It was a pretty slow day, all things considered. A few people wanting dog toys, some wanting food, and me just holding and petting Ruby most of the day. It felt like just a few short minutes from waking up when I heard the familiar chime. Six o'clock. The time to close up shop. I laid Ruby on the counter, where she just laid there, unmoving. "She fell asleep huh?" I thought. Granted, both Yang and Pyrrha were laying down too, both unmoving. I gently stepped over them, flipping the sign and locking the doors. I turned around, whistling as I walked back towards the room in back, where I slept. Ruby stayed asleep, but Yang and Pyrrha both sat up, looking towards me. "Time for bed girls." I said, grabbing Ruby in my arms again. Yang walked over to her cage, as was expected, while Pyrrha just walked over behind the counter, laying down in the dog bed nearby. I smiled, reaching down and rubbing behind her ear. "Good girl." I said. I walked back over to Yang, shutting the cage like I always did. It was more habit at this point than anything, I knew Yang wouldn't try and leave. Not that she could anyway, I mean the door was still locked.

I walked into my bedroom, crouching down near Ruby's cage. I gently laid her inside of it, shutting it back as quietly as I could. "Goodnight Ruby." I said quietly, unable to keep myself from smiling. There was something about the adorable little husky puppy that made her impossible not to smile at when she was sleeping. I stood up, leaning backwards and hearing the popping of my spine before I tossed off my shirt, setting my key-ring back on the nightstand. I sat down as I pulled off my pants, laying back in bed in my boxers as I normally did. I yawned as I shut my eyes, "Night Ruby." I muttered. It was my imagination, I knew it was, but I honestly thought I could hear "Night Jaune." from within the room.

(a/n- not so subtle shifting to Pyrrha's point of view.)

I heard the high pitched barking as I opened my eyes, the world almost lighting up. I sat up, shaking myself slightly before I shut my eyes again. "Focus." I thought. I felt my body morphing, changing, until the second when I stood again. I looked over at the door, smiling at my reflection. That reflection was of a naked woman with bright crimson hair, a similarly colored tail coming from her lower back, and bright green eyes almost lighting up in the darkness. I looked over towards the cage Yang was in. I got on one knee, fiddling with the lock for a second before she padded out. She smiled up at me, her normally green animal eyes flashing with her normal lilac ones. She shut her eyes, likely doing something similar to what I was. I saw her legs growing longer, her arms growing slightly shorter, and her chest getting significantly larger.

When she was done, only one trait remained of the half-fox dhole that was in the cage. The blonde ears on top of her head. Maybe the long, yellow hair that stretched down over her rear, but that could've just been her hair. She smiled towards me, "Ruby gave the signal?" she whispered, still potentially afraid of being discovered. I nodded, slinking towards the door. All the practice and we could move through almost silently in the store. I opened the door to the bedroom, Yang on the other side, as I saw Ruby's cage. It was shut, her teeth on it as she lightly pulled back. Of course, she'd be at it for a few minutes if I didn't just lean down and open the cage. I did just that, Ruby padding out and smiling up at us. I saw her shut her eyes, her own body growing quite a lot from her initial form, being as she was just a puppy, and me and Yang were almost in adult form.

When she stood, the only remains of her husky form was her tail. She was smaller than me and Yang, being as she was two years younger, but she was also the one that came up with the signaling idea. "He's asleep." she whispered, her tail wagging slightly in the dim light. Of course, it didn't matter, we could see no matter what. Yang sniffed, holding her nose as she stepped back, "Man, Ruby… you need a bath." she said. I sniffed, coughing when I finally noticed it. Ruby, being the puppy, was always getting into messes and fights with some of the actual dogs Jaune took care of. I walked towards the bathroom, "Go ahead and take a bath Ruby, me and Yang'll stay here." I said. Ruby nodded, smiling towards us as, without another word, she walked into the bathroom, shutting the door. The light didn't come on, but we could still hear the shower going.

"How long can we keep this up?" Yang asked. I looked over at her, frowning slightly as I saw her ears pressed against her head. She was worried, and I didn't completely blame her. I walked over, hugging her for a second before she hugged back, "We've kept it up for two months haven't we? I think we'll be fine for a little while longer." I said. She pulled back, smiling over at me. Then she looked over at Jaune, giving a slight chuckle, "Yeah… you wonder how he'd react if he found out he was petting three naked girls for the past two months?" she asked, smirking slightly. I couldn't help but join in her laughter, though I still tried to keep quiet. Of course, Jaune wouldn't wake up, he was a heavy sleeper. I mean, we'd accidentally cracked the glass on the counter and he'd still slept.

"I don't know whether he'd be aroused, embarrassed, or just faint." I said, giggling as I did so. Yang joined me, but we were both stopped when we heard a noise coming from Jaune. We stayed the way we were, frozen in place right next to each other, for maybe thirty seconds before Jaune went back to normal, rolling over and giving slight snores, just enough that we knew he was there. "Yeah." Yang said simply. Then she sat down on the ground, leaning back against the wall as I just looked down, raising an eyebrow. "What? It takes Ruby awhile in the shower, you know that." she said. I was about to say something against that, but then I just nodded, sitting down next to her. I felt my confusion double as she laid over, her head in my lap, her eyes facing the bathroom door. I looked back, seeing her legs curling up beneath her. "Pet me." she said simply, her ears wiggling slightly.

I complied, petting her ears as I saw her face set in content. Even in our human forms we enjoyed being pet I guess. "What did Glynda have to say?" she asked, shutting her eyes as I moved my tail around, laying it over her slender stomach. I smiled as I let my fingers gingerly trail down her ears. Animal ears, faunus or normal, were always so soft. "She said Ozpin's treating her fine. She actually says she contemplating… revealing herself." I said. I felt Yang freeze up beneath me as she looked up, her eyes sparkling with worry. I shook my head, running a hand through her long, blonde hair to try and calm her down. "It's okay, she won't tell him about us." I said, smiling down at her. She shut her eyes again, letting out a slightly labored breath. It was in moments like these, when she dropped the confident and funny (also punny) exterior, when I saw just how much of a toll being a faunus had taken on her. She was terrified, and tired.

"You think she'll birth a litter?" she asked. I felt my face flush as I looked away, hoping against hope she wouldn't notice. Of course, since we could both see in the dark and were technically always naked, there weren't many secrets between us. "I don't know." I said simply. Yang opened her eyes, likely hearing the shower stopping. I looked up, seeing the door open, Ruby coming out, completely clean. She walked over, yawning her adorable little yawn as she looked down at me. "You guys go, clean the showers when you're done." she said. Then, she went and did what she always did when she got out of the shower. She immediately proceeded to move back the covers on Jaune's bed, pressing against his back and trailing her arms around him. I could see her tail wagging beneath the covers. Ruby always was a fan of close contact. Be it with Jaune, Yang, even me on occasion.

Yang stood, walking towards the bathroom. "Come on Pyrrha." Yang whispered. I nodded, standing and walking over to her. The two of us walked in the bathroom as I shut the door as quietly as I could. Thankfully, Jaune always shut the bathroom door before he went to bed, so we didn't have to worry about getting it exactly ajar. I turned, seeing Yang walking over to the shower, stepping in the tub before she flicked on the water. I just sat down on the towel that Ruby had laid out for us, considering it was the only thing that wouldn't send a shock of cold up my bare rear. I just watched Yang running her hands through her hair, using just a little bit of the shampoo Jaune had. We had to make sure to minimize our impact, otherwise he'd notice. After maybe three minutes she was done with shampoo, rinsing her hair off. "Pyrrha." she said, lilac eyes meeting green ones.

I nodded, getting in and using a smaller bit of shampoo than Yang, as I had less hair, and started washing my own hair. At first doing this made both of us blush brighter than my hair. Of course, after two months of the same routine, we'd grown used to it. Even when Yang unintentionally bumped her massive chest into my back I only regarded it as a minor nuisance. It only took both of us about ten minutes before we were done, and I quickly turned the shower off, listening closely for any sound that might indicate Ruby'd been discovered. Of course, all I could hear was the slight snoring of Ruby and the slightly heavier snoring of Jaune. I stepped out, grabbing my towel and, as quickly as I could, drying off. Then I tossed it to Yang, her nodding as she rubbed herself down as well. In order to minimize our impact on Jaune's life in human states, Ruby came up with the idea to just use one towel, which worked just fine.

When Yang was dry, she bent over, sitting on the side of the bathtub and wiping away at the water spots in the basin. Sure it would probably dry overnight, but we weren't taking any chances. After a few minutes she tossed the soaking wet towel into the hamper, hiding it beneath one of Jaune's shirts. "Like we were never here." she said, smiling towards me. I nodded, returning the smile as the two of us walked out. I looked over, gaining a small smile on my face when I saw Ruby. She was back in her dog from, wagging her tail again as she gave a little bark towards Yang. Yang smiled, picking Ruby up and cradling her like Jaune did. Of course, Jaune also didn't have two large breasts for Ruby to set her paws on, allowing her to pull herself up and lick her sister's cheek. "Hehe, alright Rubes, go back to sleep." she said, setting her back down on the bed. Ruby then proceeded to rub against Jaune's chest, smiling when he started unconsciously petting her.

Me and Yang walked out, shutting the door behind us as we sauntered back into the main entrance. She looked over at me, raising an eyebrow as I walked back over to my dog bed, curling up on it like I normally would in my dog state. Thankfully it was out of plain view, just behind the counter. Yang walked over, laying down in front of me. I curled around her, my tail moving up between her legs to where it was on her stomach. I felt Yang's legs press together around my tail, keeping me from moving it. I moved my hands around, wrapping them around Yang's stomach before I set my chin on the back of her neck. "By the way, I never asked, how did you and Ruby end up with Jaune?" I asked. I mean, I'd been bought by him… I took my disguise as a Shepherd very seriously, but Yang and Ruby just kind of showed up one day. Yang looked back, and she just smiled,

"It's a long story."

(a/n- Okay, so the decision for what characters are what animals wasn't that hard to be honest. Ruby alludes to Little Red Riding hood, what's closest to a wolf that's a domestic dog? A husky. Ruby acts adorable and is the youngest, solution? Make her a puppy. Pyrrha's one of the strongest characters in the series. What kind of dog protects people? A german shepherd. Yang… yeah I don't know where the half-fox dhole bit came from. (probably from a thread I read about Yang being a FOX-y mama a while back). Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed, leave a review, favorite, watch, er… whatever it is, and let's just see where this goes.)