Jason continued walking beside the road, hoping to find some sort of map or sign that could point him towards Mistral. Miles and miles passed, the only change in scenery were the slightly different trees, and the occasional animal or Grimm that passed by. Nearly an hour later, he arrived at a clearing, deciding to rest on a stump just on the edge of it. As he sat down, several twigs snapped. He bolted up and spun around, seeing several people in ragged clothes, some with guns raised at him, others with their knives and swords and axes. A man with dirty blonde hair, who Jason recognized as the drunk at the bar stepped forward, revolver in hand. All had bruises and cuts on them.
"Shit." He muttered, flicking the safety of Bowie and his handgun off.
"Well, now isn't this funny?" The man continued to step forward. "The tables have turned quite a bit, haven't they? Now, I'd rather not kill another person today, so just hand over your stuff, and you can go on your way." Jason chuckled, and the man's faced changed from cocky-as-fuck to confused. "What's funny?"
"You bandits, fighting for yourselves, but not realizing that, while doing so, you'll end up destroying yourselves." They looked at each other, confused. "Raven Branwen, your leader right? She's a fucking idiot, I tell you."
"Don't speak of her that way."
"But she is. Cuts all of you off from the rest of the world, obviously cocky enough to think that you all will be able to hold off an attack from a much more numerous enemy. That's what lead to the Fall of Beacon and the Rebellion back up in Atlas. Our leaders got cocky, underestimated the enemy, and thousands died because of it. So, now, I'm going to give you a choice. Either join me, join the Rebellion, fight to keep your tribe alive for years to come, or attack me now, and get your asses put on the ground." The Rebel and the Bandits stood, not knowing what the other side was thinking. Weapons were drawn and cocked, ready to fire or strike. Several tense moments passed, the only sounds were from the wind and the uncertain murmuring from the bandits. Eventually, one-by-one, they lowered their weapons, and the blonde man looked around, a mixture of anger and confusion on his face. Jason Smiled.
"Wh-what are you idiots doing!? Kill him!" The man yelled.
"Looks like Sarge was right, I do have a way with words." Jason said. "Now come on, rebels, we have to teach your former leader a lesson." He motioned for one of the bandits to lead him. They marched towards the Tribe's camp, with the blonde left behind, confused. After several minutes of walking, they reached the front gate, and a crowd was gathered in the center of the camp, with the bandits ready to attack a giant, glowing, blue knight.
"Let's go!" Jason shouted to his new squad, drawing Bowie and bolting towards the crowd, his men following. Several bandits turned and aimed their weapons at the newcomers, seeing their former brothers and sisters following someone other than their leader. As they neared, more and more bandits turned the new potential foe. Jason stopped, his men behind him, and raised his knife. As he prepared to engage, a lightning bolt struck down in front of the group, causing everyone to stop, recoil, and face the direction of the boom.
"Enough!" a woman yelled. Jason looked up, seeing the infamous Raven Branwen, arms crossed, facing the group. "If you people don't keep it together, this place will be crawling with Grimm."
"No fucking shit." Jason said, sheathing Bowie and pushing through the crowd to see what the tension was about. As he reached the front, he saw two familiar faces. "The hell?" He muttered, as the crowd dispersed. I'll give 'em a few minutes. Jason thought, walking back to his men. "Alright, here's your first assignment: pack up your gear, and head to the north of the continent. Split up into squads and cover all major roads. My team, REBL, is going to meet me in Mistral, so you guys tell them that I'm waiting there. When you get a chance, call me." He handed the foremost rebel a slip of paper with his scroll number on it. "Understood?" They all gave a resounding "Yes", in one form or another. Jason nodded and turned around, leaving his new men to start their mission, to see Yang and his old friend: Weiss, hugging each other, with the big blue knight watching over the camp. He walked up to them, stopping about ten feet away, crossing his arms and letting out a chuckle.
"Well ain't this peachy." Jason said, startling the two teammates. They both immediately looked shocked as they turned to face him.
"Jason?" Weiss said first. He smiled.
"What's up, Icy?" Jason smirked, as Weiss's shocked expression turned into a pissed one, as she stomped over and punched his arm.
"I told you to stop calling me that!" She shouted, with him only laughing, before they pulled each other into a hug.
"Good to see you too." He roughly patted her on the back before breaking the embrace. "How've you been?"
"I've been, better." She said, her smile shrinking a bit.
"Yeah, I think we can all say that. What with the Fall of Beacon, the Rebellion nearly falling, things have really gone to shit." She looked at him, confused.
"The Rebellion?"
"Yeah, forces were decimated in the south, survivors fled. Standard battle for us."
"Wait, us?" He looked at her with a deadpanned expression.
"You know I'm with REBL, right? It's in the fucking name." Jason chuckled as Weiss tried to think of something to say.
"Wait, you two know each other?" Yang asked, saving Weiss from further embarrassment. Jason looked at her.
"Yep, since we went to combat school together, and our older siblings got together while they were at Atlas. We hung out plenty." He said, punching Weiss lightly on the arm.
"So, then, are you two . . .?" Yang pointed to the two of them.
"Oh no," Weiss started, "I mean, sure, we tried to be together for a bit, but we never actually developed feelings for each other." Jason rubbed his knuckles on top of her head, earning himself a glare.
"Yeah, pretty much siblings." He said, removing his hand and crossing his arms. "So, what are you two doing here, exactly?"
"Well, my mom's waiting for us in her tent, so we better get going." Yang said, looking at Weiss.
"Then, I'll wait for you here." Jason motioned for the two to go, and as they left, he turned to see one of his men approaching him
"Everyone's packed and ready, permission to move out?" The girl asked.
"Granted, go." He said. The girl nodded and ran back to a tent. Jason walked over and sat down in front of the big tent the two girls went into, waiting for them to be done with, whatever they were doing.
Yang and Weiss walked out of the tent, to see Jason laying on the stairs, sleeping with a light snore. Weiss sighed before walking up and giving him a light kick on the head.
"Ah, fuck you Gun-" He stopped as he turned to see Weiss standing over him, before flipping her the bird. She laughed and crossed her arms.
"So, what are you doing here?" Weiss sat next to Jason.
"Running. Rebel forces were pushed back, me and my team agreed to meet up in Mistral, along with any other men we found along the way." He said, staring off in front of him, remembering the battle, before smiling and looking at the girls. "So, where are you off to now?"
"Wherever my mom takes us." Yang said. There were a few seconds of silence.
"What?" Jason simply asked "I hope you realize that sounded a lot better in your head than it did in real life."
"Well, my mom can take us to my uncle, who is supposed to be watching after my sister."
"And where is she?"
"Last I heard, she was in Mistral." Jason stood up.
"Then I might as well join you, Mistral's a long way, and I don't want to walk." Weiss rose next to him as he walked off the steps.
"Well, the more the merrier." Yang said, as they all waited for Raven to come out.