Ch 1: The Only One

Garnet was sitting with a small boy in the kitchen while her husband poured coffee, serving the little one some breakfast. He was about seven and small with a fox nose and fangs, happy to eat but instantly distracted when a chaos of noise came rushing down the hall. The woman frowned a bit, Blaze chuckling and holding up the coffee high over heads as a bundle of fox faunus came sweeping through by his feet. The three energetic teens were a mass of tugging on one another and struggling with yips and nibbles over something, followed closely behind by two older boys.

Garnet was about to shout, trying to keep Rusty at the table as he tried to squirm away to join his siblings in what looked like pure fun to the little boy but Blaze cut in, "Let em go Hun. They're just trying to figure themselves out."

The triplets in question were still a bundle of mess, the only girl among them growling and snapping at her brothers as they tugged her tail and yipped at her, pulling for something in her hands that she refused to let go of. In a house full of boys, Scarlet was their only daughter but that never slowed her down. She had started to present signs with an inner beast she might be an alpha as well which was beginning to cause more and more fights between her and her brothers, who had shown they were neutral beasts and they didn't like it. The only other alphas in the house were Garnet and Carmine, the oldest son.

Crimson jumped into the frey, growling and slipping around his younger siblings trying to help them get whatever it was they were trying to wrestle from their sister, being pretty close to their age he usually fell in step with any of their fights and tended to side with his little brothers over his sister, another neutral beast trying to help them fight against her very dominant inner beast. At that point though, Garnet gave a warning growl that caused tails and ears to twitch, the boys glancing her way for only a moment before going back to fighting their sister. Carmine reached and took the coffee from his father and handed it over to garnet before snarling at his brothers, asserting his beast forward and looming over them, already such a large young man at twenty three.

The boys whimpered and exposed bellies and necks for a moment in submission before Scarlet bit one of them who was still gripping her tail painfully and set off another squabble. This time Blaze reached down and plucked Scarlet up out from the mess of her brothers despite her squirming and growling, "Hey HEY! Enough now all of ya! Carmine grab Crimson will ya and head outside! We got work to do! And you two, get to the table now!"

While blaze had no inner beast energy as a non shiftable neutral, he was still a very big, imposing man and their father, who towered over them and they listened, tucking tails and scrambling to the table as Carmine tugged Crimson outside. Scarlet was curled on herself now, hiding whatever she was holding tight in her hands as he lowered her down, "Now what in the world has them in such a fuss huh? What did you do this time my girl?"

She opened one of her scrunched eyes to peek at him, slowly unfurling from her coiled form to touch her feet to the floor, still hiding the item in her hands shyly. He leaned down and held his hand out, "Give it."

She shook her head and he growled, "Drop it now. Come on."

With a pout, she reached out and set the item in his open palm before folding her arms across her chest with a huff and looking away, tail frizzing up annoyed. He glanced down at it, his ears twitching towards the irritated sounds of his boys at the table over the item. There in his hands, was a crumpled note. He stared at it curiously, "What's this sweetie?"

She beared her teeth and fluffed her tail, cheeks red. Her brothers started to talk over each other, "It's a love letter!" "Scarlet's got a girlfrienddddd!" "Some girl gave it to her!" "Read it Papa read it!"

She turned to the table and growled deeply, so deeply it rumbled in her chest threateningly and made them flinch but her father set a hand on her shoulder gently and turned to them, "Hush it both of ya! I wasn't talking to you! Eat your food!"

He turned back to Scarlet, trying to calm her down. He wasn't really fond of when any of the alphas in the house got that way, so irate they started to vibrate from deep down with aggression, "Her, take this back sweetie. It's none of my business."

She shook her head and did nothing for a while before snatching it and taking it with her outside, flopping down on the back porch steps with it, her tail furiously flailing around. Blaze stood up and glanced at his wife but she was just rubbing her face, "Well, it was bound to come around one day I suppose."

The triplets were getting close to fourteen and a lot to handle. The boys were trouble. A duo of mischief and not only did they love to harass their sister but they were often getting into all kinds of trouble all over town as well, keeping Blaze and Garnet busy when they weren't working putting out fires with people all over town. But Scarlet was a whole different kind of mess on their hands. She'd let them know already she didn't have a single interest in boys but that didn't stop them from being interested in her, which meant she got into a lot of fights with the other teens in town who didn't seem to know how to give her space. It didn't help that she didn't like to repeat herself to people.

On top of all of that, Scarlet had been born with the same rare faunus trait as her triplet brothers, though hers was considered more rare on a female than on males. She was an intersex faunus and all three of them had tails with a fur trail that led to male genital fox anatomy as well, sheaths and all. This made Scarlet's life with other people especially faunus her age on the island rather difficult. She didn't tell people but people talked and things had a way of becoming rumored in a small town. Kids could be cruel when they didn't understand, and it was so rare on a female it was so unheard of for most faunus that she was considered an oddity to most of her peers if they found out.

It often left the girl isolated. Garnet and Blaze did their best as parents to make her life easier for someone like her but her brothers didn't help when they got in moods to pick on her. Their oldest and their youngest gave her no trouble though, Carmine often getting in fights in town with Scarlet protecting her, or at least he used to when he was younger before he grew up. Now he often just got into spats with townspeople if they dared say anything about his sister, when he wasn't chasing a certain sweet white tiger all over the place, that is.

Still, their daughter seemed to often get doe eyed at the idea of falling in love one day and wanted to hopefully meet some cute girl. Yuki, said white tiger, would often encourage her that she could do anything she wanted. The tiger had been around Carmine for years now, the two dating since they were about Crimson's age, fifteen, so Scarlet saw her like a big sister fondly and Yuki didn't mind, having no siblings of her own except a sort of adoptive brother in the family that took her in after she was rescued by Blake when she was ten. She thought Scarlet was adorable and loved being around all of Garnet's kids when she came around to see Carmine. Yuki came around a lot lately, training to make medicine with Garnet, a town healer, but Blaze and Garnet were sure Carmine might pop the question any day now.

Outside, Scarlet rubbed her annoyed face and sniffled, staring at the note in her hands as someone sat next to her. She sharply turned, protectively hiding the note in her hands until she realized it was Carmine, "Hey. Is that what all the fuss was about?"

She frowned for a moment before relaxing and nodding. He leaned back on his hands, watching Crimson getting ready to till some earth, "Who's it from?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and he laughed, "I won't tell anyone, promise!"

"Her name is Bri… she's just a girl from town…" Scarlet mumbled, crinkling the note tightly.

He could tell she had clearly worn down the paper and he nodded, "The little cat girl with the tail? She's cute I guess."

Scarlet folded her arms and blushed darkly, "Yea whatever I guess…"

He just laughed, Crimson finally fussing at him for ditching him in the work. Carmine stood up with a grunt and stretched, "Well… gotta go. Don't let our brothers get to you. They're just jealous."

He winked at her and she smiled, watching him go back to work. In moments, Yuki came through the kitchen with a pout, "Darn, I missed him didn't I?"

She smiled at Scarlet and joined her as Scarlet's tail swayed happily, scooting over to Yuki for a hug, "Hey there! Boy he just keeps starting earlier and earlier doesn't he? I'm going to have to start skipping sleep if I want to see him before work aren't I?"

Scarlet giggled, "Carmine likes to work with Crimson and Papa. You might as well just start sleeping here if you hope to see him before work. He likes to start before the sun!"

Yuki just chuckled, leaning on her knees, "I don't think your mother would be ok with that. What's that?"

Yuki noticed the paper and Scarlet turned a bright red, slowly burying her face as she handed it over. Yuki took it gently and scanned her eyes over it before grinning back at Scarlet, "Oooo a little cute note from a girl I see. Is she cute?"

Scarlet took it and shoved it in her pocket, nodding, "y-yes…"

She felt Yuki gently wrap an arm around her shoulder and hold her close, "Do you want to answer it?"

Scarlet turned, burying her shy face in Yuki's side, mumbling, "Y-yes… She makes me nervous though…"

Yuki grinned and rubbed Scarlet's back, "You know… Carmine used to make me blush like this all the time. And he used to turn the cutest shade of red when I would smile at him."

Scarlet perked up, tail nearly wagging in her interest, "Carmine? Really? But he's so… bold…"

Yuki's laugh was warm and sweet, "Maybe so. But he was so flustered all the time in the beginning, tripping over his words and even his own feet sometimes trying to get my attention. But honestly, I already liked him. All that just made me like him more. seeing him so sweet and honest and open just showed me more sides of him and it was great. Maybe she would like to see more sides of you too?"

Scarlet considered it for a moment before she seemed to get excited, perking up more and hugging Yuki, thanking her and running off to find something she could respond with. Yuki watched her leave though she caught sight of her brothers tackling her again and rolled her eyes with a smile before turning back to watch Carmine who had noticed her and was walking over. He leaned in and nuzzled her face with his, grinning as she purred at him, "how can you always say the right things to her that fix everything?"

Yuki chuckled, kissing his cheek, "Because she's still just a girl. Or did you boys all forget with all your rugged fighting?"

He chuckled and she nipped his nose sweetly, "Seriously though, she just wants someone to understand her that's all. I think in the end all these boys around don't help her feel very understood."

He nodded, kissing Yuki gently as Blaze walked outside, patting him on the shoulder, "Come on Romeo we got work to do. Hey there Yuki, Garnet's with Rusty in the kitchen waitin for ya."

Yuki smiled at Blaze and stood up, stroking her finger down Carmine's nose as the fox's ears flicked, "Well, work calls. See you for lunch?"

She purred, nuzzling the bonded mark in the base of his neck as he stared at the one on hers, "Of course. You know I'll get stuck helping cook."

She watched him walk to join his brother and father, allowing herself to stare at his hardened muscle for a bit before she walked inside, frowning at the boys bothering Scarlet who was perched now on the back end of the couch kicking at her brothers when they got to close with Garnet yelling trying to rangle them in, "Those damn boys!"

Yuki rolled her eyes, "I'll get them Garnet. Be right back."

She moved into the living room and growled, getting their attention. In moments they shifted to excitement to see her but her disappointed glare made them whimper, "Leave your sister alone already! She's clearly had enough!"

They whimpered and nodded, in unison, "Yes Yuki…"

They scampered off back to their room and Scarlet let out a deep breath, clutching the note tight and her small notebook and pen. Yuki gave her a wink before going back to work with Garnet and Scarlet was finally able to be left alone to write a response.

—-

When she met up with Bri at the town's local hang out spot teens often took to which held near the docks with rearranged old crates into makeshift furniture and things laid out into games, Scarlet was nervous. Bri was a cat faunus with a silky plume of fluffy dark brown fur tail with patches of orange speckled all over it and bright bright blue eyes. Her hair was a bob of black curls and her skin was a dark rich brown color with tiny patches of tan all over it randomly. She was about a year older than Scarlet but that didn't bother the fox. Scarlet had often found herself admiring the tortie cat faunus often and since puberty had often found herself with conflicted new physical feelings as well that drew her to notice so much more, like the way the girl's eyes held more expression than her face or how she moved when she walked.

Scarlet had also become uncomfortably aware of how Bri smelled of citrus and warm air and the way she tended to drift more to talk to Scarlet lately then some of the guys they hung around who often were trying to impress her. She knew Bri liked to lay in the sun, warm days on the beach and Scarlet loved her smile and laugh. So when she was handed this note with those curious blues watching her and that smile, she nearly fainted.

Now she was here waiting to give one back. Bri had written a very enticing and flirtatious note wanting to try to date Scarlet and it was a bit overwhelming and exciting for the fox who was very very interested. She fiddled with her own tail, hiding in it a bit and playing with the fur as she waited. When the cat showed up, she was grinning, "Hey there cutie. You got an answer for me?"

The way the tail dragged along Scarlet as Bri stepped past her and turned to face her took Scarlet's breath away. It was so soft, so fluffy, so close. Her nostrils filled with that sweet scent of citrus and warm air and she swooned, only able to nod as she blushed, slowly reaching out a note. Bri grinned massively, taking it, "You're too cute you know that?"

She squirmed a bit, pulling at her tail some and watching Bri open it before the cat glanced up, leaning forward and purring, the cat's inner alpha rumbling at Scarlet, "Well… aren't you poetic? Come on then… let's go do something fun."

Scarlet felt her own beast twitch and stir but she wasn't sure yet if it was good or bad. All she knew was she wanted to go wherever Bri was going to take her. She took the cat's hand and they went out to town, Bri dragging her to a few shops where they enjoyed some window shopping and trying on clothing. Scarlet was sure Bri might be purposely trying on swimsuits to tease her, especially when she would pose in them. She tried a few times to convince Scarlet but the fox declined, uncomfortable with what Bri might learn if she did right now. Scarlet wasn't comfortable with anything to do with her lower anatomy yet in her life, still learning the ins and outs of it that were all new now that she was a post pubescent teen as well and not trusting it.

Eventually when the day came to an end, Bri kissed her cheek, sending her brain reeling, and the start of her first relationship began. Her brothers of course didn't ease up when she got home, tumbling after her like a whirlwind of chaos as she was tackled over, a barrel of fighting already starting even with Garnet yelling from the kitchen.

Yuki was still here helping make dinner and teaching Rusty to cook with her and Garnet while Blaze, Carmine and Crimson were coming inside. Crimson darted to the bundle of pups and jumped in with a grin, not even sure what it was about but once again eager to help his little brothers tease their sister. Blaze was trying to calm down his boys but the Neutral beast had no sway at the moment as the four of them yipped and struggled with one another in their dogpile fight. Crimson yanked her tail and bit her arm and that was it. The fight went from playful to aggressive.

Scarlet's developing alpha hated the pinch of the bite even if it wasn't bad and the pain from her tail and turned on him suddenly and sharply, growling and kicking rapidly at his gut while tugging on his hair, her body also shoving over the other two suddenly. When Crimson's yelps could be heard and the other two boys were scrambling for distance, Yuki moved with Carmine into the room and each one grabbed a sibling, Yuki snagging Scarlet by the waist as Carmine grabbed hold of Crimson's shoulders and the two older faunus pulled them apart while Blaze was chasing his other two boys to give them space, "Go on both of ya! Get cleaned up for dinner!"

The two held back siblings were growling and squirming, Crimson still whimpering from his sore body as Scarlet was snarling and trying to jerk free to go after him more, Yuki holding tightly and nuzzling her hair with her face, "Scarlet! Relax! It's over. Calm down! I got you."

Carmine was dragging Crimson to their room to give Scarlet space as she panted, eyes a bit wild but once she was left alone from her brothers and Yuki settled her down some, still hanging onto her just in case, she seemed to calm down more easily. Her tail tucked around herself and finally Yuki checked her face, seeing no more signs of aggression, "Better?"

Scarlet just nodded and Yuki let her go. Yuki always seemed the best at calming Scarlet down ever since her beast was starting to tilt to show she was truly a very dominant willed alpha. Scarlet wasn't adjusting well and it was stressful enough without her brothers always being a problem for her. Fingers slipped through Scarlet's red curls a few times and Yuki sighed, "You have to start relaxing more Scarlet or they will keep messing with you."

Scarlet just messed with her tail fluff and said nothing. Yuki watched with her eyes as Carmine came back alone to peek in, nodding her head towards the kitchen. He knew what she wanted. She wanted him to go take over for her so he just nodded and went off. When she was sure he walked out, Yuki smiled softly, "Did you talk to that cat today?"

When Scarlet nodded, cheeks pinking a bit, Yuki grinned, still playing with her soft red curls, "How'd it go?"

Scarlet took a moment but when she scanned the room and didn't see any of her brothers to bother her she immediately opened up, gushing about her time with Bri to Yuki. She didn't tell Yuki about the swimsuit shop, nervous to admit to anyone she had been there and had seen Bri in so many skimpy things for their age, but when she finished Yuki ruffled her hair sweetly, "I'm glad you had so much fun."

Scarlet glanced around again and gently tugged Yuki's shirt, the tiger leaning in as the fox whispered, "She said she'd be my girlfriend…"

The way Scarlet seemed to light up after telling Yuki only made the tiger give her a heart warming smile but she didn't get a chance to comment as dinner was called and the boys all came stumbling from the back, Yuki nodding her head over, "Come on. Let's hurry before they hog all the good stuff."