A/N: Hello people that live inside of the internet, I am here with more of this increasingly convoluted thing I call a fanfic. This is the last of the setup chapters, aimed to deepen the bond between characters. (If I see any of you shipping these characters again I will curse you into hitting your pinky on the edge of a table.)
With that said, I will now announce that I've been posting another story! Not a fic, a story! It's updated weekly instead of monthly as I do with this one. It's called 'Noah, The Pilgrim' and you can check it out in r/HFY. The summary? Follow the adventures of your average Joe in an impossible situation with no recollection of how they got there aside from a strange dream he had a day prior.
I hope you'll enjoy this one because I sure did enjoy writing this.
With a tired yawn and the motorized hum ceasing entirely, Francisco and the three girls which he accompanied, curiously named 'Team RWY', the four of them exited the bullhead with varying degrees of liveliness.
As one would expect from a quick one-hour trip so early in the morning involving young adults with sub-optimal time management, three out of four slept through the flight without a hint of shame in their still sleepy faces.
Weiss Schnee, the only one who did not sleep, was the only one awake enough to actually lead them. Ruby quietly leaned her head against Yang's arm as they both waited. Yang and Francisco were both still affected by their torpor, but not nearly as dramatically as the young leader.
"So... Who's the huntsman who's gonna accompany us?" Weiss asked with her team with little hope for a concrete answer.
"Ozpin didn't say their name, only that he would be here once we arrived," Francisco said, crackling his neck in an attempt to wash away the tiredness he felt.
"So we wait I suppose." Weiss sighed, checking her surroundings. The four of them were standing in a large open area, made with the strict purpose of accommodating bullheads and other kinds of flying vehicles. It is currently empty for the most part, aside from a few bullheads here and there.
In front of them is the main building of this airport, aside from staff hurriedly moving cargo around in forklifts and crates, this place could be considered abandoned civilian-wise.
Spotting what looked like a café inside of the building through a glass wall, Yang pointed at it. "Hey, we could grab something to eat there, maybe get some information too."
Ruby groaned in response, Francisco nodded, and Weiss exhaled loudly. "We were supposed to meet the huntsmen here, not there."
Yang was quick to shoot back a sound counter-argument. "And 'there' is in eyeshot of 'here' isn't it?"
The heiress relented. "Fine, let's go then."
The librarian was thoroughly amused with these girls' bickering. It was something he missed from the days of L-Corp and the Library, there he had long-known friends that he knew and understood. In remnant, he had Fred and Bemaia, sure, but Fred doesn't drink, Bemaia is always thinking about money, and Penny isn't even alive. Kind of.
Penny is its own problem.
The inside of the building was cold, colder than the outside. The air conditioner was likely dialed down to very low temperatures due to machinery and computers running inside.
Nearing the café, the soft smell of coffee and pastry washed over the trio. This pleasant aroma was enough to wake Ruby up. "Oooo..." The girl's eyes widened, and in no time, they were glued to a glass locking away many pastries from her needy hands.
Yang and Weiss reached for the laminated menu, as Francisco sat on a stool in front of the counter in order to talk with this café's employee. In an attempt to hide his less-than-appealing facial particularities, he sat on the stool, leaning on the counter with his right arm, this way only the right and center parts of his face were visible to the employee.
The employee in question, who had their back turned for a moment as the four approached, was quick to greet them with a smile on their face. "Hello, welcome to the Huntsmen's Haven, may I get your order?"
Francisco eyed Ruby for a moment. "Brewed Coffee, plain and simple." The librarian said, hoping that the option was on the menu. "Also... Did you see any huntsmen around here lately? We're supposed to meet one here."
The employee seemed to grow uncomfortable with the question. "Erm..." Looks like they have something to say, yet don't have the strength to say it. That, or they don't want to disappoint the customer.
"Is something wrong?" Francisco pressed the offensive.
"A-ah... It's nothing really..." The employee shook their head. "It's just... We don't see a lot of huntsmen around here... Local politics I suppose."
The librarian sighed. He knew very well what that meant. Just like parts of the City where fixers aren't allowed entry and passage, this place was under the influence of a Syndicate.
"Ah..." It looks like he already botched it, but maybe he could salvage it. "Forget I said anything then. Aside from my order, of course."
The employee was quick on their hands and feet, within the minute his order was done and ordered. "Here you go, sir!" A small porcelain cup filled with black, hot, and steamy goodness.
He takes a sip and sighs with relief. "I missed this..." Indeed, Francisco loved his scarce yet fruitful visits to the welfare team, which turned into the floor of social sciences. The coffee addict in charge of them always made sure he was welcomed inside just like everyone else.
In fact, maybe Chesed is a bit guilty in that regard. "Ah... This is coffee." He is guilty of refining Francisco's tastebuds when it comes to coffee and its derivatives. "Blacker than a moonless night, hotter and more bitter than hell itself. That's coffee." Francisco chuckled as he recited a quote he overheard from one of Chesed's regulars.
The employee couldn't help but smile at that honest appreciation of the coffee they've brewed. Well, it was actually the machine behind them, but we don't talk about that. "Actually..." They began. "There was this man that passed here yesterday. He was tall, had messy black hair, and wore a white and grey coat with a red cape on his back... And he carried a big sword on his back. He didn't stop though."
Francisco smiled. "Thanks." Still, he refused to look the employee in the eyes, for that would imply that the employee had full vision of the 'thing' currently inhabiting his left cheek and neck.
Thus, quietly he enjoyed the coffee, watched as Ruby effectively breathed in a piece of cake twice the size of his fist, much to her sister and partner's dismay, and observed Weiss flexing her wealth by paying the twenty-six Lien bill with a black card.
Francisco understood that twenty-six Lien was effectively twenty-six thousand Ahn. That's less than five percent of the yearly taxes he was used to paying back in the City.
Wait that was a thing to ponder though. How much would he owe in taxes now that he is in remnant? Last he checked, he did not pay last time since he was stuck in the library and it is safe to assume that Fred and Bemaia also did not pay their taxes thanks to that same reason. "Oh no." He said in a very low tone so as to not bother the girls.
Not paying taxes means you get paid a visit by fixers hired by the head, or in the worst-case scenario, the Claw pays you a visit. Surely, since this is another world, the Head wouldn't come for something as petty as due taxes. That would be absurd, right?
His thoughts of impending doom came to a screeching halt, as he heard the screams of a very excited little girl. "Drunkle Qrow!"
Francisco's head turned towards the man in question. Red eyes, black messy hair, a giant sword on his back, a white and grey shirt with a thorn red cape on the back, the smell of alcohol, and Ruby Rose dangling on his arm. Yep, the description fits, even if some of the information wasn't provided, that's the huntsmen they have been waiting for. And the man looked mortified.
"Wait, shush for a sec." He said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "No way Ozpin sent you to assist me, right? This is a joke, right?" Ruby's enthusiasm suddenly vanished as her 'Drunkle' said those words. She quietly let go of his arm and stood awkwardly next to him.
"Aren't you happy to see us?" Yang interjected as Francisco and Weiss approached the older huntsmen.
"No firecracker that's not it." He took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "You understand that this is a murder investigation, not the average search and destroy, yeah? This is no job for first years, especially in this city." His indignation was not only palpable but also justified.
Weiss, in an attempt to lighten up the mood, decided to change the subject. "Ruby, do you know this man?"
The man in question, reached for something inside his breast pocket as Ruby replied. "Yeah, he's my uncle!" She then looked at Yang for a moment, then back at Weiss. "Uh, our uncle. Qrow."
She then took a step forward, placing herself between Qrow and the rest of her team. "Weiss, Francisco; This is my uncle Qrow." She moved her arms akin to how an announcer would present a product. The product; 'Drunkle Qrow', was in the middle of effectively and passionately making out with a silver flask, filled with what can only be assumed to be some sort of quickly diminishing alcoholic drink.
He opened his eyes upon hearing his name and pulled the flask out of his lips. "Yeah, uh, hi." He greeted half-assedly, placing the flask back in its proper location. "Let's all work together, I suppose..."
His eyes lazily traveled from member to member. First to Ruby since she was the one in the middle, then to Yang since her long golden hair stood out a bit too much, then to Weiss since her pale white skin and white hair reminded him of something funny...
Then there was this bald guy. "The hell is wrong with your face?" His question came from within. Raw and unfiltered. "I mean, holy crap. Is that... I can't even describe what the hell that is. A tattoo?" His curiosity quickly died in the moment that 'tattoo' blinked at him.
It fucking blinked. "Actually..." Qrow had to stop himself for a moment as a shiver ran down his spine. He learned to listen to those shivers. "I don't even wanna know, baldie."
The librarian nodded in response. "A fitting reaction, I suppose." And it was, in fact, one could consider it somewhat lucky considering how offensive Qrow could have gotten over it. He shrugged, pulling out his scroll as it vibrated against his thigh, inside his pocket.
Then, Qrow turned back to Ruby, as another pressing matter came to mind. "Ya didn't tell me there was a guy in your team, pipsqueak."
Yang grinned. A devious idea began to form in her head. She and Weiss shared a glance, though Weiss's look was one of annoyance, Yang was not deterred. A singular wink was sent to Weiss.
The heiress didn't know how to react to said wink, yet she felt compelled to allow whatever shenanigans the blond brawler was about to partake in.
Ruby though, was not aware of what was about to befall her. She looked at Francisco as her uncle asked if he was a member of their team, feeling attacked when considering the possibility of someone else in the place of Blake on her team.
"Him?" Ruby asked, pointing her thump toward the librarian behind her. "N-"
Her very own sister, Yang, silenced the young leader by pulling her and Francisco into a hug, each of them with one arm. "Yep! He's the only guy in our team." The blond announced with a smile on her face.
Ruby's protests went unnoticed as her voice was muffled by Yang's side chest. Francisco wasn't even paying attention to their talk and was currently staring at his scroll with a puzzled look, still attempting to discover how the small device functioned and why it vibrated against his will.
He didn't notice Yang pulling him in a hug, and neither did he care, the puzzling instrument in his hand was more interesting.
Qrow stared at the librarian with curiosity. First, there was rage building up in his belly, after all, who was this guy to get near his nieces? Then a wave of reason crashed down on him, after all, all the teams this year were chosen randomly, so it wasn't this guy's plan to end up in their team.
Then confusion dominated his mind because this fucker was staring for a good thirty seconds at the lock screen of his own scroll with nothing written on it except a 'Drag to unlock' message.
Weiss did not say anything, not caring whether or not Qrow knew the truth or not. But she did find it odd that the librarian was staring at his scroll without moving for a minute now.
"I, uh..." Qrow began, scratching the back of his head. "Don't know what to feel about this guy." He admitted, shruging as he said that. "Just don't try anything funny under my watch."
He turned to the exit of the building. "C'mon, let's get going. We can't be here all morning, we still have a laundry list of things to do and figure out." He declared as the team of four followed suit. "I'll explain the case as we go."
The sky was covered in clouds, yet it did not rain. The air, is salty and moist with the added downside of wrathful winds coming from the ocean, as is the expected with a coastal city. What a horrible day for a walk.
"Two days ago, a huntsman and his wife went stargazing a few miles west of the City of Rubica. The only witness, the wife, stated that in the middle of the night, they saw a black humanoid figure on the shore near their seaside camp."
The group of four huntsman in training and the singular professional huntsman made their way from the airport to the beach. Qrow was briefly briefing them on what transpired and the information he knew.
"As the huntsman went to maybe help this figure out of the water, the figure recited poetry to her husband, and suddenly he was impaled top to bottom by a tentacle thing. The wife could not see clearly what happened as there was no light, so we do not have anything on the murderer except from them speaking in poetry."
This wasn't what Ruby was expecting for her first non-kill-every-grimm-in-sight mission. "So... What do we do?" She asked innocently, not being able to think about anything to do about the case.
Qrow was quick to answer. "There are a few things we can do and a few things we have to do." He stated. "We need to first take down five bodies from the crime scene, then we need to make sure no one else comes even close to the crime scene."
"Wait, five bodies?" Weiss pointed out, as that number was not in the information he briefed them about. "I thought you said there was only one murder." If there are more bodies, then maybe a team of rookies couldn't be qualified to deal with this request.
"This is news to me as well. I saw the body yesterday and they said it wasn't my job to take it. No one else had died." Qrow stated. "The police were supposed to retrieve that man's body, but apparently, the tentacle that pierced the huntsman's body is alive and managed to take out four of them; That's why they called reinforcements."
The way Qrow described what happened to the huntsman, seemed a whole lot like the behavior of an abnormality, Francisco thought, but decided to keep those thoughts to himself. There was a lot about Remnant he didn't know after all.
"With that said, we want those bodies secured as soon as possible, but we also want to talk with some people I know around here for some information on our guy." Qrow finished, effectively giving them two orders and implying they would split into two groups.
Francisco was the first to declare what he wanted to do. "I'm curious about the bodies. I have a theory about what happened, but I need to see them for myself first. Plus, I'm bad with people."
Noting that the bald guy wanted to go see the bodies, Qrow added his input. "I'll have to go for the contacts, I'm the one who knows 'em, and I'm not confident you kids can handle negotiating with 'em."
Ah, he's talking about talking with a less-than-legal organization. A Syndicate.
"I'll go with you uncle, I don't want to mess up my hair by risking falling in the water." Yang was the next to state her desire to stay as far away as possible from the bodies.
"I'm in high heels. I will not walk in high heels on sand thank you very much." Weiss quickly shot her opinion before she was the only one left without answering.
Their leader though, did not say where she wanted to go before everyone did. To her, there was only one correct answer even if she didn't want to say it. "I guess I'll go to the beach..." She said, saddened because she wanted to go on a mission with her uncle.
"Good. You two, just reach the shoreline and go left from the port. You'll get there in one or two hours of walking." Qrow gave them those exact and somewhat vague directions, then turned to Yang and Weiss. "You two will keep quiet and keep close. Let me do the talking, and only interfere if things go south."
Yang simply nodded and followed wearing a devious smile. Knowing her uncle's luck, 'things going south' is probably what will happen. Weiss followed Qrow, quietly judging his choices.
In no time, the trio disappeared from Ruby's vision, leaving her and the librarian all alone in an empty street of Rubica.
She sighed, relieved of something. "I was sure Yang would make a joke about leaving me alone with a boy." Then, chuckling to herself as she imagined that very same scenario.
Francisco used his thumb to point at the end of the street, where he could see the open ocean on the horizon. "Let's get going then." He said, taking the lead and completely ignoring Ruby's attempt at humor.
The girl nodded, zipping past him in a blur of red and black. "Race you there?" She asked, walking backward in front of the librarian. "Bet I'll win."
Francisco remained unperturbed, for he knew his limits. "You'd eat dust, don't even bother." He taunted, telling her the truth in his head.
A devious smile crept up on the girl's face as her eyebrow furrows. "Tell you what," She began, striking an overconfident pose pointing at him. "When I win, you'll have to piggyback me all the way back!"
The librarian grew interested but kept his poker face. "And when you lose?" He asked because he knew Ruby didn't even entertain the thought of her losing in a race.
The leader waited to answer, pondering on what should be his prize, and eventually giving up entirely. "I'll get to it if you win, how's that?"
Francisco liked those terms, unaware of the implications of her choosing should he win. "Very well, I agree to those terms." For him, the race was already won.
Ruby smirked. "See you there then!" And just like that, Francisco watched the ball of roses and black cloth hover over the floor at incredible speeds.
He did not seem to mind it, in fact, he took some time to stretch.
Thirty seconds of stretching later, he was off, he couldn't waste any more time standing still.
The librarian took off, not in a full sprint or with a dash, he simply began to jog. In two minutes he reached the shoreline and turned left, where the supposed two hours of walking in a straight line would start, all while following in a trail of rose petals.
Francisco made sure not to overextend, he could not waste his energy by going any faster. There was no point in getting there two or ten minutes faster, all he needed to do was get there quicker than Ruby.
At his pace, he'd get to the finish line in half the time a person would get there by walking. He couldn't see Ruby just yet thanks to the beach's geometry with its many turns, but he was sure he'd see her eventually, likely catching her breath from exhaustion.
See, normally he wouldn't stand a chance against Ruby in a race, but this is an extraordinary race. The goalpost is far, very far. The idea of quick bursts of speed in a race like this is sub-optimal at best.
This is a test of endurance, and this is what Francisco is counting on. He may be jogging in a social suit and with a sword strapped to his back, but he is also a trained index proselyte who is known for their resilience. Fortitude is his main attribute. His stamina is seconded by none he knew of.
With that said, Francisco also banked on the possibility that Ruby's semblance also used up a lot of energy. He didn't know if that was the case, because if it wasn't then he'd lose without a doubt. But if it did use up a lot of energy, then...
Francisco watched, wearing a smug on his face, a young girl struggling to even keep up a consistent pace and unable to run properly. He was faster than her in this instance, so he simply jogged past her.
"Keep it up, Ruby! This is a marathon, not a race!" He taunted, moving past her.
Ruby was tired, too tired to care about the taunt at the moment, but not tired enough to understand that she was going to lose if she didn't do anything. "W-Wait!" But there was nothing she could do, lest she managed to gain more energy out of nowhere.
She could use her weapon, but that would be illegal outside of the academy grounds should there be no threat that would put her life in danger. With that said, the creatures of Grimm do disappear after death, don't they? Who's to say she didn't use her weapon against one of them, should there be no one to witness her do it?
She smirked, drawing Crescent Rose and shifting it to its scythe form. A magazine with a strange symbol was loaded into the weapon with practiced movement. She pointed the scythe backward, checking if there was anyone behind her first, jumped, and pulled the trigger.
Francisco looks behind him, surprised at the sudden noise. At first, he thought that Ruby would try and shoot him with a Dust round to slow him down, but as he looked backward, a figure dashed by him.
Time seemed to slow down as the two came face to face, Ruby with a smug smile, and the librarian with a surprised and almost terrified face. With a blink, time returns to normal.
Ruby pummels to the sand beneath her, rolling for a few meters before landing in a running motion, ahead of the librarian.
Francisco, in an act of desperation, throws his plans through the window. "Ah, Fuck it." He mutters, declining his plan of jogging there, and picking up speed. He must win this.
At a full sprint, he is faster than a tired Ruby running as fast as her legs allow her, it is a shame she doesn't plan on just 'running.'
Almost instinctively Francisco unsheathes his Downpour and slashes through a bullet Ruby shot at him, with the intention of propelling her further. But if the bullet also accidentally hits her opponent and ends up slowing him down then, that's just a shame.
"You little devil!" Francisco commented, smirking at the added challenge. There wasn't much he could do to stop Ruby from doing this, nor did he have anything to do in response to that except by deflecting the shot.
Francisco was faster at this moment, but just as he was about to catch up, Ruby's scythe propelled her a bit further, just like clockwork. "Just how many bullets are in that magazine!" He cursed, parrying ten bullets by now.
He's running for forty minutes, meeting Ruby around the thirty-five-minute mark. The finish line would be upon them at any moment.
So, in that crucial moment, where every moment counts, Ruby chokes on the sand as she's propelled by her scythe once again. She fails to catch herself from diving into the sand below, but her Aura blocks all damage she would have suffered.
*ACK*
There is a world where he would stop to check if she was okay. Not this one. Not today.
Within the second, Francisco has already passed her in his full sprint, and as a precaution, as he runs by her, he makes sure to sheath his sword, extend his arm, and scoop up her Crescent Rose away from her grasp.
"My baby! No!" Francisco hears her pleas growing ever so distant as he carries the surprisingly heavy weapon.
In a vacuum, this weapon is as it looks; Heavy. It's an adult-sized scythe that doubles as a gun, with a bunch of interlocking mechanisms that could only be designed by a madman, or a very dreamy child.
Add Ruby to the mix, a fifteen-year-old girl who uses the weapon without any problems and treats it as though it's weightless, one would think that the scythe is actually made of styrofoam. Upon holding it, one would think that Ruby's semblance is the one to blame for making it lighter, but that's not her semblance.
Francisco nodded in appreciation. "She's good."
Just then, right there and then, Francisco feels the weight of another person on his back. The delicate hands of a woman holding on to the back of his necktie, tugging his head upwards.
"Gotcha!" Ruby shouted with a face covered in moist sand. Francisco did not stop running and did not seem to slow down.
In seconds, Ruby manages to scale his back, using his bald head and face as support for her climbing. Francisco must do something, if this keeps up, Ruby might cover his eyes with her hands which would inevitably make him trip.
He can't grab her since he's holding onto her weapon with his only usable arm, and if he lets go of the arm, she quickly lets him go and catches on with her special ammo bursts of speed.
Thinking quickly, Francisco stopped his forward momentum and began spinning in place. As silly as that is, it might just work. "You're a skilled fighter." He says, letting go of Crescent Rose seven spins in. "You're adept. Merciless. As the best of us are."
Just as Ruby notices he's no longer holding onto her precious weapon, she lets go of his head and aims to jump away from him and into the weapon. Only for a hand to grasp her boot, firmly holding onto it.
"Which is why I must stop you!" Francisco shouted, tightening his hold on her boot, and swinging her lighter frame downwards like a hammer. She hits her back against the sand as the Librarian lets go of the girl.
He doesn't start running, and Ruby doesn't seem to be in any distress either.
Looking down at her, where he slammed her against the sand, he noticed a thin plastic line colored black and yellow. There is some writing on it, but he can't make out the words, but he can understand the exclamation marks.
Looking ahead of it, he sees flashing blue and red lights coming from the roof of a police jeep.
They've reached the place where the murder took place, and Francisco just threw Ruby against the finish line, earning her the win.
"Haa..." He sighs. "I'm such a dumbass."
Ruby though, despite being planted on the sand by her competitor, shot her arms upwards in elation. "I win baby!" She did it, just like she said she would.
With newfound energy, she zipped upwards and landed on her feet. With a proud smile on her face, she turns to the bald librarian next to her and says the most infuriating line she could come up with the only purpose to piss him off. "Never punished. Not even close." She taunts.
Francisco understood it very well. She was not wrong. You either win or you don't, no in-between, thus, it wasn't close. And punished she was not, she played risky and won, he played safe and lost. No lies there. There is no point in being angry about facts.
"Yeah..." Francisco's head dropped as he caught his breath. "Now, let's do this."
Ruby nodded. "Almost forgot why we were here..." Her mood shifted very quickly, as she stared at five bodies hanging lifeless atop the waves.
As the two Huntsman-in-training approached the isolated stretch of the seashore, a chilling scene unfolded before them. The morning sun cast a harsh light through the clouds on the grim tableau, where five bodies lay impaled upon grotesque, writhing tentacles that emerged from the sand like the fingers of a nightmarish hand.
The first body, that of an older man, had been claimed by these tentacles five days prior. His form was weathered by the relentless sea spray and the battering winds, yet the tentacle held him aloft with a disturbing reverence as if displaying a trophy.
Nearby, the four other bodies, unmistakably those of policemen as they still wore their uniforms, were a more recent addition to this macabre display. The tentacles had skewered them with precision, and despite the less than eight hours that had passed, the sea had begun to claim their vitality, leaving their skin pallid and eyes vacant.
The two could see that the perimeter had been secured, with the police tape fluttering in the wind. Yet, none dared to venture close, for Qrow's warning was true, they would still attack any who dared to approach, swaying apparently without purpose.
The sea itself seemed hostile, as it lapped at the shore, retreating with an intimidating hiss. The two exchanged a glance, knowing that this was no ordinary crime scene; this was the work of something other than Grimm or human.
Francisco, with years of living in The City, etched into the lines of his face, stood stoically as his gaze swept over the scene. His experience had inured him to the carnage, yet a subtle tightening of his jaw betrayed his unease.
He took a measured breath, the scent of salt and decay filling his nostrils, and began to methodically assess the situation, his mind already sifting through procedures and possible explanations. All thoughts led to a single possible explanation; An Abnormality, or something like that.
Beside him, Ruby's reaction was starkly different. The raw brutality of the scene assaulted her senses, the metallic tang of blood mingling with the briny stench of the sea, and the added ailment of being exhausted from the marathon previously run was more than enough for her breakfast to come tumbling out of her mouth, landing on the soft sand beneath her feet.
Her eyes, teary and wide with a mix of fear and disbelief, darted from one grotesque figure to the next. A tremor ran through her hands, and she fought to maintain composure, the reality of her chosen profession crashing down upon her like the waves against the shore.
Desensitized but still caring, Francisco patted the hunched-over girl on the back, helping her regain her composure. "You okay?" He asked exclusively out of courtesy.
The young leader, between ragged breaths, mustered only a few words. "I..." Still, she struggled to speak after just throwing up. "I.. Don't wanna be a huntress anymore..."
It was a childish reaction upon facing a harsh truth, born out of sheer desire to get out of there as soon as possible, Luckily for the young huntress-in-training, the librarian was there to offer some words of wisdom.
"Don't say that. You'll regret it later." He wiped some of the snot coming out of her nose with his only hand. "Let's have a seat over there, with the cops. I'm sure they'll have some water." He would point towards the police jeeps if he had another arm to do so.
Ruby, although thankful, snapped at him with confusion. "No! I Don't wanna do this!" She shouted, not being able to muster enough strength to push him away. "I wanna go back to Beacon!"
Now she was being irrational. First, she doesn't want to be a huntress anymore, now she wants to return to where huntsmen are trained. Francisco deduced that she was just shocked. "We can't do that. We need to figure this out first."
Ruby shook her head in denial. If she can't run away, then what should she do? "What do I do then!?" She couldn't muster any more energy in her body to even look up towards the disgraceful scene of split innards, hanging atop the waves.
"You're facing tough odds." Francisco spoke, scrunching up his nose as the smell of decayed flesh continuously assaulted his nose. "Inexperience, the smell, the exhaustion from running, and the bad state the bodies are in. I've seen grown men tumble down into a puking mess from less. You're doing great so far."
He kept patting the young girl on the back. "There is no advice I can give you. The smell never gets better, and the vision never gets prettier." He says solemnly. Ruby understood that the only reason why he's not having the same reaction is because he's grown accustomed to it.
"What I can say to you is..." He squatted down in front of her, placing his arm on her shoulder. "Get your shit together, Ruby."
Your shit is *apart*, and it's rather unbecoming of a huntress and a human being. It's supposed to be the opposite of that: *together*. Compressed in a small area. To achieve a solid level of shit-compression, squeeze your butt-cheeks together for 30 minutes. Do something similar with the two hemispheres of your brain. Do something else, maybe that will help.