The Village

It had been a few hours since he had woken up in the forest, but now Reaper found himself walking for hours. While he wasn't necessarily tired thanks to the enhancements he received from the Soldier Enhancement Program, he did find the walk kind of boring. As he walked, he felt like something was watching him. Stalking him from the shadows of the forest all around him. Due to this he had grabbed his shotguns and kept them out ever since. That thing he fought, well killed easily, was on his mind. He had no idea what that thing was, and it bugged him.

He always had the information he needed or would gather the information he needed. He always was a behind the scenes type of guy which is why he wasn't too gleeful about being the Leader of Overwatch. He never was a public type of figure. He snaps out of his thoughts as he notices a village coming up. He internally sighs in relief knowing he won't be walking for much longer. 

His focus was to gather information about where he was and then plan from there. Not a solid plan but it's what he's got. He had tried to use comms to contact someone, but his comms was dead silent. Nothing but static. Just another obstacle he must deal with. As he approaches the village, he takes notice of the people standing guard on the walls of this village. He looked up at them as he walked towards the village. He then holsters his shotguns as he approaches the front gate which was open.

While he didn't know why a village needed walls, he didn't bother to question it as he passed through the gate. Inside the village, it was lively. Citizens moving about doing their daily tasks. But as he walked down the main road, he got some looks from the villagers. It didn't bother him at all as he's gotten worse glances. He looks around at the village's many buildings as he searches for something. A tavern. Not to get a drink, but to find information. 

Cliché, but it's what he's working with. The villagers around Reaper have varying reactions to this figure clad in darkness. Somewhere showing signs of fear because of Reaper's mask and some had looks of curiosity. Of course, Reaper paid them no mind. But he did overhear some of them call him something. Huntsmen. Initially he paid that title no mind but kept hearing it. Are Huntsmen special around here? He has no clue, well he does. They keep bringing it up.

He breaks his train of thought as he spots a tavern at the end of the main road which causes him to speed up his steps as he approaches it. Once he reaches the tavern, he uses both hands to push open the doors and walks inside. The rest of the tavern looked at the new arrival and some found his appearance frightening as he scanned the room. Reaper then stepped in further and walked towards the bartender. 

The bartender was cleaning a glass when he took notice of the man approaching him. Seeing this man clad in shadows walking towards him made him a little scared. The mask was very intimidating. Once Reaper reached the bartender, a moment of silence passed before he spoke. 

"Where am I?" Reaper asks. 

The bartender flinched; this man's voice was even scary. But after hearing his question, the bartender figured that this man was travelling and got lost. 

"Where are you? Well, you're in the village of Liberty." The Bartender said. 

Village of Liberty? He doesn't even know where that is. This only made Reaper slightly angry as this didn't really help him. The bartender could see it despite not being able to see the man's face. He knew that this man wanted a more precise location. 

"This village is about 50 miles South of Vale City, the Capital of the Kingdom of Vale." The bartender said, almost with a sense of pride. 

Reaper guesses the man loves his country. But the Kingdom of Vale? He's never heard of that nation at all. It has to be small considering he's never heard of it. 

"Which Continent?" Reaper asks as he leaned in closer to the bartender. 

He was unintentionally being intimidating to the Bartender. The bartender looked at him like he was crazy before he gaze an honest answer. 

"Uh, the Continent of Sanus." The bartender said, giving the man before him a weird look. "Where else would Vale be?" 

Reaper growls lowly at that comment which makes the bartender flinch again. The former Overwatch agent didn't appreciate that comment. While yes, he has no idea what Sanus or Vale is, there's no need to make him look like a fool. Others in the tavern looked concerned, worried that a fight was about to break out. But thankfully, that didn't happen. However, two people entered the tavern while Reaper asked his questions. Sensing an impending conflict, one of them stepped closer with a comment. 

"Cut the man some slack." the person said. "Probably has been traveling for days, maybe even weeks and lost his sense of direction." 

Reaper turns around slowly to see a man with black hair and red eyes. He wore a red, tattered cloak attached to a gray dress shirt with a long tail, black dress pants and black dress shoes alongside a necklace with a crooked cross-shaped pendant. He had a relaxed aura around him, yet Reaper got bad vibes from him. Almost like this guy was a bad luck charm. The man then looked to the ex-Overwatch member. 

"The name's Qrow, Qrow Branwen." the man, now named Qrow, introduced. 

Reaper remained silent. 

"..... uh, hello?" Qrow asks. "Are you deaf or something?" 

"Qrow!" a woman said in a scolding tone. 

Reaper turned his head to the voice and saw a woman with a white cloak, she had black hair with red tips and silver eyes. The cloak covered most of her body besides her head. The woman walks up to the two and stands beside Qrow. 

"Be nice." the woman said. 

"Not my fault he didn't answer. Which is rude." Qrow retorts. 

"Doesn't give you the right to be rude back." The woman said. 

"Come on, Summer." Qrow said. 

"Don't 'come on, Summer' me!" The woman, now named Summer said. 

Reaper just watched in an unamused way. Though, this bickering made him remember the times he argued with Jack Morrison, the man he once considered a best friend. They didn't always argue, but once they started to, that's when things went downhill. It all came to a crash when he led a rebellion that caused Overwatch Headquarters in Switzerland to explode. Looking back at it, he realizes how much of a fool he was. The things he did were wrong. He almost killed his best friend. He gets himself out of his mind to see that Summer and Qrow were still arguing, but the topic had changed to missions that involved fighting something called Grimm. He heard other names such as Beowolf and Ursa. Reaper turned to the bartender once more. 

"You said this City of Vale was where?" Reaper asks. 

"50 miles North of here." the bartender said, still looking at the arguing pair before him. "Though, it's quite the walk. I suggest hailing a Bullhead. They sometimes stop by this village, perhaps you could catch one of them to take you to Vale." 

"Thanks for the suggestion." Reaper said as he turned around and began walking away. 

As he walked towards the door, Summer stopped arguing with Qrow after she noticed that Reaper was starting to leave. She had overheard his talk with the bartender and did want to apologize for Qrow being rude. Qrow saw the look in her eyes, and he signed. 

"Summer..." Qrow exhaled. 

"Hey, it's either you apologize yourself or I do it for you." Summer said. 

"Not that. I know that look, you want to help him get to Vale." Qrow said. 

"I do." Summer confirmed. 

"We just met the guy, besides. I'm getting bad vibes from him." Qrow said, glancing at Reaper who now left the tavern. 

"Never hurts to lend a helping hand." Summer said before walking off. 

Qrow attempted to stop her but failed. He just sighed and followed her. Reaper started to look for whatever the heck a Bullhead was. Probably an aircraft of some kind. At least he's hoping that's what it is. But before he can begin his search, he hears footsteps approaching him from behind so he turns around to see Summer and Qrow coming after him. He stops walking and waits for them. 

"What do you want?" Reaper asks. 

"I heard you were heading to Vale. At least, that's what I thought I heard." Summer said. 

"What's it to you?" Reaper asks once more. 

"Well, me and Qrow have a Bullhead scheduled to show up any minute now to take us back to Beacon Academy." Summer explained. "I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind tagging along. It would get you there faster." 

Reaper stood there in silence. He began weighing the pros and cons of taking their assistance. Trying to find a Bullhead could be difficult as he imagines he'll need money for it and walking 50 miles is a bit out of the question and will take time. This is a quicker alternative, and he could gather information from this Beacon Academy place. 

"Alright. I'll join you." Reaper said. 

Summer smiled to herself while Qrow just crossed his arms. 

"Great! The Bullhead should be here any minute now, all we need to do is wait!" Summer informed.