'26...27...28...29...30…' Pyrrha counted to herself as she finished her set. Her stretches and warm ups were such a huge part of her training regiment, one that she wasn't likely to skip out on any time soon. She had a reputation to keep up after all.

Pyrrha Nikos, champion fighter, winner of the Mistral Regional tournament for four years in a row, which is the new record for that tournament. She's also done endorsements for cereals, weapons companies, all different kinds of things that she honestly lost track of them all.

Yet for all their prying, no one knew who the real Pyrrha Nikos was.

They didn't know much about her at all, mostly statistics, accolades, what endorsements she's given, those kinds of things. No one bothered to actually take the time to learn about her as a person. They didn't bother to learn about her favorite movie, her favorite meal, her hobbies, what she likes to do for relaxation.

There was also one other fact that Pyrrha refused to discuss with anyone, ever. It was a part of her that she had hoped would never reach the surface of who she was. One small little detail, that while she knew some people wouldn't care about it, others would certainly question her over it.

Pyrrha Nikos was a faunus.

Not just any faunus, she carried the traits of a Panther, black and sleek, a cunning and deadly hunter that could strike at any time. She carried the genetics of a deadly stalker, one of the top predators of the jungles in Mistral.

Only a few people actually knew that Pyrrha was a Faunus, that being her caretakers. They cared for her before and after fights, protecting the truth from anyone. They had grown close to her, but she remained hesitant. Pyrrha was sure to keep that secret hidden, and she was fortunate for the trait that she managed to pick up from her faunus heritage.

Pyrrha was born with a black tail that she wrapped around her waist as if it were a belt. No one seemed to suspect that her "belt" was actually a tail, a part of her that she kept concealed from the rest of the world. Hell, even on her school uniform, she wore her tail as if it were a normal accessory, and no one questioned it.

While Beacon Academy was pretty welcoming towards its students, she knew that there were always those who only sought out trouble. Cardin Winchester was a perfect example of that notion. In fact, his whole team is a perfect example of that.

It was why she still hid her true self, because she was afraid of losing the friends that she had just made, of everyone questioning her, of having the entire world turn against her. She didn't want to lose what she was now starting to gain.

Her teammates, Jaune, Ren, Nora, team RWBY, they were all her friends, she couldn't lose them now. She couldn't bear with being lonely again, not after she finally got a taste of what it's like to have friends.

Having finished with her warm ups, Pyrrha grabbed Milo and Akouo and started to run drills that had been ingrained into her head since she started learning how to fight. Running through the conditioning much like normal, Pyrrha went through hours of training that most people would call excessive. Pyrrha spent so much time training, that it was no question as to how she managed to acquire the records and accolades that she did.

Once she finished with her training, Pyrrha walked out of the training room. Most people would change in the locker rooms and shower there, but given Pyrrha's secret, she just walked back to the dorms first. She actually didn't mind the sweat soaking her body, the sensation gave her a feeling of accomplishment, that happiness at successfully completing the training for the day. One of the most important aspects of her training was remembering to keep a positive outlook on things, because that will help you progress and overcome any obstacles in your way, mental as well as physical.

By the time she returned to the dorm rooms each day, she usually brought Jaune up to the roof to help him train privately, and then she would go and shower once that was done.

Tonight however, it would appear as though that wasn't going to happen. Instead, she was greeted to the sight of Nora alone in the dorm room pacing back and forth in anticipation. "Hey, Nora," Pyrrha said as she walked into the room.

"Finally!" Nora breathed once she saw the redhead enter the room. "You really don't know how long I've been waiting for you."

"Um, is everything alright?" Pyrrha asked.

"Hope you got a swimsuit, because we're going swimming today!" Nora proclaimed.

As soon as Pyrrha heard that, she started to groan internally. It wasn't that she hated the water, she actually didn't mind it at all. The problem was that she didn't want to reveal she was a Faunus as a result, and a swimsuit would be pretty much a dead giveaway to that fact.

Thinking quickly, Pyrrha tried to come up with a pretty decent excuse as to why she wouldn't be joining her teammates at the pool. "Well, I mean, I just got back from training and I have school work to finish," Pyrrha said.

"Oh come on, it's like you never spend time with us," Nora rebuked. "You spend your whole day training and working on school stuff, it's like you don't bother spending time with your friends."

It struck a chord with Pyrrha, mostly because she knew that Nora was right. Often times, she would be training, doing her school work, anything but spending time with her team. It wasn't something she really enjoyed, but in her mind, there wasn't anything else that she could do. She was worried that slacking off would lead to her failing, which she feared would cause everyone to discover what she really is.

Seeing Pyrrha's expression triggered something in Nora though, and soon she took back what it was that she said. "Sorry, Pyrrha," Nora said. "I didn't mean to put it that way."

"No, it's alright, Nora," Pyrrha interjected. "I really don't spend as much time with you guys as I should." Pyrrha thought of a way that she could manage to accomplish both successfully. "Tell you what, how about this Friday, the four of us go out and do something together? I promise to spend this time with you, make up for time I should have spent with my friends."

"Alright," Nora admitted, sulking towards the door. "You better keep that promise, Pyrrha, or I'm holding that belt of yours hostage!"

It was an innocent comment from Nora, one which Pyrrha recognized instantly. The real implications behind it, though were a bit more complex. Pyrrha just smiled and nodded in agreement, waiting for Nora to walk out the door before grabbing her pajamas and a towel.

Pyrrha always enjoyed the shower after a hard day of work, letting her tired body relax under the stream of water, whether hot or cold, though after training it was usually a hot shower so the muscles that she worked could relax quicker than normal. Today, it was really going to feel well deserved.

Letting the water heat up, Pyrrha removed her training gear. It was nice when she was able to just let her tail move around freely, no longer having it feel constricted by the way she positioned it. Once the water was warm enough, Pyrrha stepped into the shower and let out a sigh as she felt her muscles already start to unwind themselves.

Getting to work on clearing the sweat off of her body, Pyrrha scrubbed all over, letting the warm water soak into her skin and revitalize her. Her tail felt exceptionally better thanks to the hot water. Once her body was clean and felt rejuvenated, she started to work on her hair, thoroughly scrubbing it and ensuring it was cleaned to perfection.

After she finished with her shower, Pyrrha dried herself off and changed into her pajamas. She walked out into the dorm room with her tail wrapped around her waist, just in case the others were back. Once she saw that she was alone, Pyrrha let her tail loose and walked over to her desk.

From there, she gathered the books she would need for her school work, before walking over to the dorm's refrigerator and gathering herself a snack. She then put a pot of water for tea on to boil while she started to dig into her school work.

It didn't take long for the water to bubble, their pot was surprisingly quick to heat up. Carefully, she grabbed a cup, and with her tail, held it out while she poured the water into it with her hands. It helped when it came to keeping the water from spilling.

That was one of the things Pyrrha was glad to know, she had full functional control over her tail and could use it to help with tasks, when she was alone at least. It was why she appreciated her privacy, she could just be herself without having to worry about anyone learning her deepest secret.

Once she finished making her tea, she brought the cup over to her desk and started to take a crack at her school work. Occasionally she would use her tail to grasp the cup of tea and take sips from it that way, but for the most part, her tail rested in her lap.

Pyrrha often got distracted when she got into her studies, letting everything else just fade into the background. It was, unfortunately, a habit that she had learned growing up; a habit that she wishes at times that she had never picked up. It has nearly gotten her into trouble on more than one occasion, but fortunately for her, her faunus instincts kicked in at the last second usually and helped her hide the tail.

Tonight though, her instincts kicked in at the worst possible time, and too late to do anything about it.

She was surprised to hear the door starting to open, Nora had originally mentioned that they would be out late because of their swim. But now, her teammates were returning to the dorm, and Pyrrha had her tail out, holding a cup of tea for everyone to see.

As Pyrrha turned around in fright, she saw Nora burst into the dorm, and she had no time to react. Pyrrha's tea spilled onto her lap and her tail still held the cup in its grasp.

"Pyrrha! We're ba…" Nora stopped herself once she saw the position Pyrrha was in, noticing the tail that was swinging next to Pyrrha. Instead of saying anything else, Nora just turned around and shut the door quickly.

Pyrrha feared the worst was about to happen, yet she was paralyzed in fear and unable to act. Fortunately, her hearing kicked in when she heard Nora talking to someone out in the hallway.

"Why are you just standing out here?" Pyrrha heard her partner, Jaune, ask Nora.

"I guess I went in too quickly," Nora said. "Surprised Pyrrha so much that I accidentally caused her to spill her tea all over herself. She's getting changed so YOU TWO ARE NOT ALLOWED IN JUST YET!"

Hearing Nora's excuse, it was touching, yet worrisome at the same time. Taking advantage of the chance that Nora gave her, Pyrrha slipped into a different pair of pajamas, taking care to wrap her tail up once again. With her moment of freedom past, her previous jubilation was diminished slightly.

Once she was finished, Pyrrha walked over to the door and opened it up for everyone. "Thanks for your patience," She said to her teammates, putting a smile on for everyone. "I'm sorry for making a mess in there."

As everyone walked in, Ren reassured her that nothing was wrong, while Nora went on to apologize for intruding. Jaune then went on to explain that someone threw up in the pool and hence, they had to leave. Pyrrha, while she was paying attention, was more focused on Nora, worried about what she would say.

In the end, Nora never uttered a peep, and everyone went about the rest of their day as normal. Not long after, they were off to sleep. Despite the worry within her, Pyrrha found that sleep was pretty easy to come by that evening, though she kept a careful ear out in case anyone else got a bit curious about her.

AN: NEW STORY! Holy crap this is gonna be a good one (if you ask me). And it's a ship that I've never written before either, so that's sure to be a fun experience.

But yeah, there's going to be a lot of depth to the traits that Pyrrha gets from her Faunus half in this story. Plus, there's a couple of things that are going to be coming up that may not be entirely canon either. We'll say that this takes place after the events of Volume 1 as well, yet Pyrrha hasn't developed a crush on Jaune. That whole thing will be treated more like a brother/sister thing, so I'll just clear that up now.

I want to give a major shoutout to my editor/beta MartunaMajor. Dude is a fucking beast when it comes to this kind of stuff (sent him 4 docs to edit the other day, edited them all within a few hours, that's some fucking awesome shit), so thank you Martuna for all the help with this story, and all of my other recent works.

Anyway, please give this a follow/fave/review if you enjoyed it. If you don't want to that's fine, but it'd be extremely appreciated if you did. I'll catch you next chapter!