Entry 26

Ruby left home. It came out of nowhere. Well, maybe not nowhere. Ever since she woke up, Ruby has been wanting to get back out into the world. I expected her to give me a warning though. Instead, she left a note saying that she was going to be heading for Mistral. A note. Not a goodbye. Not a hug. A note. I guess that's why it took me off guard.

I had just made her lunch when I saw it. It only took me a minute to realize she was gone. I guess I figured it out so quickly because it's something I'd seen before with Yang. I ran downstairs, grabbed my coat, and almost broke through the door to catch up to her. I actually would've broken through the door had Qrow not opened it just before I barged through. He swore at me for elbowing him in the gut, but it was his fault for being anywhere near the vicinity of the doorway. I didn't even expect him to be home.

He told me that he had found what he was looking for at Beacon. The fact that Ozpin's cane was hanging from his belt answered my next question before it came out of my mouth. That, of course, meant that Qrow would be leaving soon. Before I could get a word in he pushed into the house and started going through all the cupboards. He found his dusty bottle of booze buried in the back of one, and began filling his flask with it.

I know it was his gift, and that he has every right to finish it all. It's just that the bottle has been a sort of symbol for me over the past years. As weird as it is to say, it always reminded me that things were going to be okay. Qrow would never leave a gift like that behind. I'm sure he has more than enough lien to buy himself some. I just know that he's more sentimental than he would like everyone to believe.

That just made him finishing it off a bit more jarring. Whatever journey he was about to go on was going to be harsh. Harsh enough that he realized he might not be coming back.

He was about to leave, but I stopped him at the door. He's family too. I wasn't about to let him leave without a goodbye. So, I stood in the doorway and asked where he was planning on going next. He told me that he would be heading the same place as Ruby. Haven Academy.

I was a bit taken aback. Ruby had never gone much further than Vale, but now she was heading off to Mistral. I panicked a bit thinking about what would make her think to travel so far, but then I realized that Qrow was planning on going with her. He had told her where he was going during their conversation.

I was about to get angry with him, but he just laughed when he realized I had figured it out. He told me not to worry. He was planning on traveling with her. He pointed out that Ruby would always try to leave because she wants to stop the dangers of the world. She had chosen to be a huntress. He mentioned that we were both young and naïve once. Being in the same situation, we both would have done the same thing as Ruby. We would go out and fight.

I couldn't argue with him. He was right. It's the whole reason team STRQ went on half the missions that it did. So, I let it go. Instead, I asked why he wasn't with her now. He simply pointed to the tracks in the snow. She had friends with her.

He let me know that he had been watching from the tree line. Two boys and a girl had been waiting for her to get her things. Based on their descriptions, I have to assume that those 'kids' must be Jaune, Nora, and Ren from the stories that Ruby and Yang had told me.

It relieved me a bit to know she would be in good company. It still didn't tell me why Qrow hadn't decided to join them though. His argument was that he wanted them to do it by themselves. If they knew he was there to help, they wouldn't learn too much on the journey. In a way, he was taking a similar approach to what I had done.

I meant to tell him that it might not work based on my experience with that method, but he also pointed towards himself. He had been doing this for a few years now. I had tried while out of practice. That was about the time that I agreed to his plan.

He made to leave again, and he seemed a bit peeved when I stopped him one more time. I wanted him to go see Yang before he left. She's been… quiet. To this day she hasn't wanted to leave her bed. Not even my panicked running through the house made her get up. I just wanted to make sure she could hear someone else talk before she was stuck with just me.

Qrow reluctantly agreed and went to her room. I was waiting for some heartfelt goodbye. I shouldn't have. Instead he told her that he was going to be leaving. That he was going to be protecting Ruby on a long trip to Mistral.

She hardly said anything back.

The 'heartfelt goodbye' never had a chance. At the lack of response, Qrow said something akin to "I didn't realize that sword had cut off your legs too. Maybe when you're done sitting on your ass you can help your dad pick up the place."

It quickly turned into a shouting match while Yang stormed across the room. She made it to her door when Qrow looked at me and pointed at her. He joked that he had gotten her out of bed for something other than going to the bathroom in a single conversation.

I think he wanted a bruise on the arm to remember her by. If not, he has one for it now.

It was the first time that I had been happy to see Yang with red eyes. It meant that she was feeling some sort of emotion. It was a bit weird that she had gotten herself so worked up that she was shaking though. Overall, I think she felt a little better after socking him in the arm. When she calmed down she gave him a hug and asked him to promise that he would keep Ruby safe. He just laughed and asked if she knew who she was talking to.

I chose not to say anything. Instead, I gave him a quick hug too. He almost punched me in the face for it, but I made sure to make him aware that it was for Ruby. He is supposed to pass on that message for me. Considering she didn't give me a hug before she left, he better. For her sake.