Chapter Eight: Obligation

Ruby woke up to a peculiar thought.

I have nothing planned today.

That was strange to her; there was always a test to study for, stuff to do with her team, a video game to play. But as Ruby lay in her bed, she realized for once she had nothing planned for a Saturday. Yay! That means more time for sleep! Rolling over, Ruby pulled the covers back over her, to catch a little more shut-eye.

…

…

…

…wait

Throwing the covers off, Ruby jumped off her bed and scrambled for her scroll, looking for something in the calender. There was something she had listed for today. Something so important that she had even bothered to mark it on her calendar.

The ValeExpo.

The ValeExpo was the largest gathering of developmental technology that was showcased to the public, where companies would hawk their products and give demonstrations of the latest advancements in their technologies. A gathering of the coolest gadgets, weapons, and tech on Remnant and a yearly tradition for Ruby, she hadn't missed a year since she was five. Ruby didn't intend to miss this one either.

I wonder what everyone else is up to…

Ruby couldn't help but wonder as the airbus seemed to ever so slowly make its way to Vale.

Usually Ruby went with Yang to the ValeExpo, but seeing as Ruby was meeting someone there already, Yang had opted out. That someone happened to be Weiss, but from what little Ruby gathered, it was strictly family business. Blake had a new book involving… ninjas of some kind? Ruby had only been able to get a brief glance at it's cover, so she didn't remember much. I'm certain it said Ninjas of…well, something. Her first friend from Beacon wasn't going to the ValeExpo either; the blond goof had a date with his girlfriend.

For Ruby, it was still odd thinking that Jaune had actually landed a girlfriend in the form of Velvet. Sure, it's been a month, but after him asking Weiss three times a week for so long, I woulda thought he'd never settle for anyone else. Given both her friend's new found love life and her partner's complete relief at the lack of sudden guitar serenades - he really should have tuned it better - life felt different. Not necessarily a bad kind of different, but different.

For one, Ruby felt like she saw less and less of Jaune outside of class, as the blond split his time between RWBY and JNPR and now Velvet. Originally, Ruby was going to go there with Jaune, but now that he's dating someone, he can't make time for hanging out with her. Ruby had hoped that maybe Jaune could bring Velvet along to the Expo, but apparently paying for the passes at the door was well out the realm of possibility for any of them. It felt a bit like what had happened their first semester, when Cardin had been bullying Jaune. Except… he isn't being bullied, he just… isn't around. Hopefully he is spending time with his team. I wonder what Pyrrha is up- Ruby's thought stopped mid thought as her hand scrambled for her scroll. A new plan was forming as she pulled up Pyrrha's number and called. Jaune gave me his ticket; maybe Pyrrha would want to come?

Sadly the call went straight to voicemail. Giving a shrug of her shoulders, Ruby put her scroll away as a new thought emerged;

What does Pyrrha do for fun?

Ruby thought for a second, Pyrrha always seems to be studying, or training, or helping Jaune train… I don't think I've even seen her read a book for fun.

It hadn't taken long for Ruby to figure out what her other friends at Beacon liked to do for fun, Blake likes to read, Weiss- Ruby couldn't help but snicker slightly, Weiss likes to watch really, really sappy movies. Jaune plays video games, Nora just enjoys… like everything? Ruby couldn't remember a time when she saw Nora NOT enjoying something. Ren does… gardening.

Yet for Pyrrha, Ruby had no clue.

Even with all the time she has spent helping me with stuff, I don't think she ever does anything fun unless someone gets her to, like gaming! Every so often Ruby found a bit of time when Pyrrha wasn't busy and brought her over to the team RWBY dorm for some quality video gaming. Pyrrha wasn't very…good at it. I can still beat her butt five ways to Sunday but she did try at least!

It's odd, I feel like I've spent a lot of time with her but don't really know her. I only ever see her studying or training. Another thought popped into Ruby's head.

Pyrrha has the same classes, so that meant all of her stuff was due last week and we haven't gotten new assignments yet… so what is she going to do today? Is she just going to train all d-

A ping from the intercom broke Ruby's thoughts "We will be touching down in Downtown Vale, Terminal 3 in thirty seconds. "

As the airbus landed in Vale, Ruby was immensely thankful for her semblance. Any other person, any other hunter, would have missed that airbus. Any other hunter wouldn't have been fast enough to get ready in under a minute. Any other hunter wouldn't have been able to zoom from the airbus terminal to the convention center in forty seconds.

If I didn't have this speed I would have missed it, Ruby shuddered at the thought, before excitement returned to her, as she walked towards the large exhibit hall. A quick flash of her pass to the check-in lady and she walked through the doorway.

A huge room, easily large enough to fit a dozen airships, greeted her. Booths filled the room, and a maze of corridors and people filled the space between them. A maze to the untrained eyes, but Ruby was no newcomer, I have been going to it for ten years, haven't I?

Where one might see an impenetrable wall of people, Ruby instead saw a number of paths leading into the sprawl; twisting, windy paths to be sure, but those were enough for her. It was with little surprise that Ruby jumped into the throng of the crowd.

Unlike her previous times, Ruby had a specific place at the convention to look for. Weiss DID say she'd be at the Schnee Dust Company area…

Ruby still wasn't quite sure as to why Weiss was going to be at the ValeExpo. She didn't seem that interested or excited… so why is she here? It really didn't make much sense, if she doesn't want to be here, why is she? Odder still, Weiss wasn't planning on leaving the SDC area. Maybe she is the SDC representative?

Nevertheless, Ruby was excited to have someone new to come hang out with at the Expo. She usually went with Yang, although Yang tended to zone out on any of the more technical stuff that Ruby found fascinating. Unless explosions or fire are involved, that is always interesting to Yang.

Meandering her way over to where - if the brochure was correct - the SDC exhibit would be, Ruby saw a familiar face, although not one she expected. In one of the larger areas, where the Knossus Company was showcasing its newly enhanced 'MinoMaze Mark VI' drones, a half dozen company representatives stood on a elevated platform surrounded by a crowd of a few hundred. Yet it was the red-haired girl standing with the reps that stood out to Ruby.

"…and to help us demonstrate how much they've improved over the Mark V's, let me give a warm welcome to four-time Mistral champion, Miss Pyrrha Nikos!"

As if on cue, Ruby watched as her fellow classmate gave a quick wave to the crowd as she took a step forward.

"Miss Nikos will be engaging in a mock match with our new and improved mark VI." A few ooo's and aww's were heard. "Don't worry folks, the match will only be to the tournament regulations, and with the superb safety features of the Mark VI, Miss Nikos will never be in any danger." The speaker turned to Pyrrha. "Miss Nikos, are you ready?"

Pyrrha gave a smile as she nodded and closed the distance between her and the MinoMaze mark VI, a nearly seven foot tall robot, armed with a wicked looking chainsaw sword and tower shield.

"Begin!"

The demonstration was not particularly exciting. In fact, if Ruby was being completely honest, it seemed like Pyrrha was holding back. A lot.

When I sparred with her, I could barely hold my own until the end! Yet as Ruby watched Pyrrha and the MinoMaze trade blows, blows that Ruby was certain Pyrrha could see coming from a mile away, she saw a complete lack of ferocity. It was like Pyrrha's strikes were muted.

Not that the crowd noticed, as they ooo'd and aww'd, flinching from the sparks spent flying from the two combatants' weapons meeting.

Heck, Pyrrha can manipulate... metal…I think? Ruby knew she saw Pyrrha move Jaune's shield last semester. This should be a breeze, right?

Contracts are annoying.

Pyrrha didn't have any particular plan for her day, but due to her continuing contract with Knossus, occasionally she was ask to take part in demonstrations. It was a rather annoying obligation for Pyrrha, seeing as she was contracted by the company for another three years.

What was worse was the fact that she had been asked to put on a good show by fighting what was little more than a dumb droid. At least when I'm sparring with Jaune I don't have to worry about hurting him due to aura; this thing would probably shatter if it blocked a full strike from me! It was frustrating; she knew the company representative would tell the crowd it was a draw. After all, they couldn't very well have her lose to their new robot, nor could they have the robot win. To have an actual victory for a side meant that there would be a loser; either Pyrrha would lose her moniker as the invincible girl or the robot would lose some of its credibility.

Block. Feint. Stab. Dodge. Slash. Duck. Block. Dodge.

At a certain point the moves just became mechanical for Pyrrha. It's not like anyone could really tell the difference. In essence, the fight was boring, a facade of a challenge meant to trick the viewers.

Any second now…

Pyrrha pulled away from the drone as the representative of the company stepped between the two; the robot's attack ceased. "As you can see, the mark VI has made vast improvements over the previous model…"

Pyrrha tuned him as she analyzed the fight. If anything, the Mark VI was slower than the last model… probably added too much armour to it without upping the power in its joints. Pyrrha gave a quick glance at the drone before continuing, I still don't see why they don't just have weapons built into this. The Atlesian Knight series does that and they can't be disarmed unless, they are actually dis-armed. Seems like a-

"Hiya, Pyrrha! I didn't think you'd be here!"

Pyrrha didn't even give a glance as she replied, "Hello Ruby" –a fairly large design flaw... wait, what?

The Mistralian girl did a double take as she realized that Ruby was literally standing next to her. Where did everyone else go? The company rep was talking with members of the crowd who had migrated to a different part of the Knossus company area.

How long was I standing here? The fact she hadn't even notice people leaving was alarming. To be fair, the speeches they always give after a demonstration tend to run together after a while. Why didn't I even notic- a pale hand waved in front of her face.

"Remnant to Pyrrha, are you there?"

Pyrrha's train of thought was broken as Ruby pulled her out of her internal musings. "Yes, sorry, how long was I standing here?"

Ruby tapped her chin as she thought. "Like… a minute or two?"

A small frown started to form. "Sorry, it's just bee-"

"Miss Nikos!" The Knossus company rep came jogging over followed by the MinoMaze mark VI, "Would you mind doing the next demonstration in three hours?" the man asked as he gave her an apologetic look. "I know we don't have you officially booked for the next one but…but… um." The rep's words became a jumble as he noticed something startling. Pyrrha followed his gaze as she noticed Ruby staring that the mark VI, open mouthed- is she drooling? Is she okay?

"Ruby, ar-"

Even before Pyrrha started to speak, she noticed that all that was left where the hooded girl stood were a few rose petals floating in the air. At the moment, Ruby was poking the MinoMaze and quietly talking to herself. "Armour is a bit thicker, especially the joints." A flurry of rose petals trailed behind her as she zoomed off to examine it at a different angle. "Are they using the same servos for the joints as they did for the Mark Vs?" Another flurry, "Ooo, a chainsaw sword… but does it have a gun mode?"

"Miss Nikos." The company rep was trying to get Pyrrha's attention again, "Can I put you down as the demonstrator for the ne- ack!"

Ruby seemingly teleported between the Knossus rep and Pyrrha and interjected, "Why didn't they change the loadout from the Mark V? Even the old Atlesian knights had a gun."

The rep gave Ruby a annoyed look. "Well you see, we are currently developing a variable array of weapons that can be implemented within the ye-"

"You mean like the Atlesian Knight 130 arms?"

The rep's face twitched. "No, ours are quite different, and, if I do say so myself, better ma-"

"Really?!" Ruby seemed even more excited, "Weiss showed me how they make them once; does Knossus also do three year trials?"

"Of course we do!" The man's patience was running fairly thin, yet as far as Pyrrha could tell, Ruby didn't notice. "It's within safety regulations for dron-"

"So why did you put more armour on the mark VI?" Ruby seemed to be almost hopping up and down as she started to rattle off questions, "Is the armour plating going to be interchangeable? What about the shield? Are there going to be different versions of the shield - or a dual weapon system!? Why was the fight on safety mode, was it 'cause of the crowd? Why not make the model shorter, wouldn't that make it faster?" Pyrrha blinked as she watched the rep try and fail to get a word in.

"Well, you s-"

"Are you going to put a flight mode into it? Like a jetpack or maybe rocket wings?"

"That is top se-"

"Is there going to be a heavy ordnance loadout? How effective is it against larger Grimm, like a deathstalker? Does it have its own intelligence or is it remote controlled? Will there be separate paint options? Will it be a non-vocal model like the Mark Vs?"

Ruby finally stoppedas her face went blue. I guess even Ruby needs to breathe at some time. I have to wonder if she could talk as long as Nora did when we ran into that pancake chie-

"What did you say about a safety mode, Miss…" The rep squinted at the name scrawled on Ruby's Expo pass before continuing, "…Rose?"

"Oh! The Mark VI was on its safety mode right?"

"…no?"

The excitement that Ruby had up until that point dropped. "Aww, so that's why Pyrrha was holding back."

"What do you mean… 'holding back'?"

"Uhh…" Ruby looked at Pyrrha with a perplexed expression, as if wondering whether or not she said the right thing. "Y-you were holding back, right?"

Pyrrha's usual smile turned into a sheepish one. "A… little." A short silence pervaded over the three.

"I've sparred with Pyrrha. She usually isn't that… slow." Ruby finally said, "I mean, I think even Jaune could beat it."

…she's not wrong.

Ruby leaned in to look closely at the lower half of the MinoMaze, "In fact, I mean, I'm pretty sure if I tapped here the leg would come off-". Rather suddenly, the company rep seemed to gain Ruby's semblance as he nearly teleported between Ruby and the drone.

In the absence of Ruby's voice, Pyrrha became very aware of the murmurs of the growing crowd gathering around them.

"Miss Rose, it was nice to meet you, but, uh, I need to take this call, uh," the rep was fiddling with his scroll as he turned to Pyrrha, "Thank you for the help with the demonstration Miss Nikos, but we have, uh, found a suitable person to help with the next demonstration. You may take your leave. Now." The rep gave a jerk of his head towards Ruby while looking at Pyrrha. To Pyrrha, the meaning was clear; we probably should not come back to the Knossus booth anytime soon…

Even after they left the booth, Ruby couldn't help but feel curious about the MinoMaze Mark VI, I really wish he had answered my questions… I mean I want to know if they are going to have jet powered boots o-

"Hey, Ruby?" Ruby turned and noticed Pyrrha looking at her scroll, "Did you try to call me?"

"Yup! I wanted to know if you were free, 'cause I have a free pass to get in, buuut since you're here, that kinda answers it!" Ruby stopped walking as she looked up at Pyrrha, "Sooo which exhibits do you want to go to first?"

Pyrrha's bright green eyes stared back in confusion. "I'm sorry?"

"Uh, well, um…" Ruby was puzzled at Pyrrha's lack of understanding. Maybe I didn't speak clearly enough? "Where do you want to go first?"

Pyrrha continued to stare blankly at her friend before finally her eyes finally left Ruby and started looking around. After a few moments, Pyrrha pointed to a small booth containing a rather aged man, with a half dozen glass cases of dust in front of him. "How about that one?"

"Sure!" Ruby grabbed Pyrrha's hand as she dashed into the crowd, not wanting to lose her friend in its midst. Jaune not might have been able to make it, and Yang didn't want to go but I have Pyrrha. The fact Ruby had someone to enjoy the Expo with, whether planned or not, was something she was immensely grateful for.

This is going to be so much fun!

Pyrrha was very thankful for the open seats in the airbus. The vast amount of walking - or rather running due to Ruby's hyperactive pace - had left her legs with a soreness that made Pyrrha wonder if she should add more running to her training schedule.

Sitting down, Pyrrha was left running through the events of the day.

Pyrrha had expected to do a demonstration or two before leaving the Expo. What she hadn't expected was for Ruby to show up and drag her all over the place.

Not that it was unwilling, it was just… different.

Pyrrha had been to a number of expos before; it came with being a celebrity. Unlike most attendees, however, Pyrrha was always invited to demonstrate something or endorse some technology or product. The ValeExpo was nothing new.

A few times, early on in her career, she went to these expos or conventions with the idea of attending as, well, as an attendee after her demonstration or endorsement was over. The problem with that was she'd be approached by representatives of companies who would start talking business with her and try to set up a demonstration of their own with Pyrrha. It's like they are waiting for me around every corner, I swear. They know when my booked appearances end and where I am. It made it hard for Pyrrha to enjoy the actual event.

Ruby made this particular time around different; any time a representative had approached Pyrrha today to ask if she would mind representing some new product or participate in a demonstration, Ruby interrupted. I don't even think she knew what she was doing, Pyrrha thought as she eyed the tired girl. The bombardment of questions she asked about the product had been so earnest; Pyrrha couldn't help but wonder if Ruby knew she was scaring off the representatives. I think she just really wanted to know more about them. I mean, they are all related to Grimm hunting, which seems to be what she care about the most.

Pyrrha leaned back in her seat as stared out the window, the airbus gaining altitude as Vale became more and more of just a series of lights as the buildings faded into the darkness of the late hour.

Obligations.

It was a funny word to hold so much power in Pyrrha's life. Just because I am good at fighting, people think I'm obligated to speak on their behalf. That wasn't completely true. Companies had offered to sponsor her and what girl doesn't want to be famous when they are thirteen? The obligation didn't come from winning but from accepting offers from companies.

At first, she hadn't thought of them as obligations; as a thirteen year-old girl who had suddenly been told she was going to be a celebrity… it had gone to her head a little at first. Pyrrha had enjoyed being shown on the TV a few times, the interviews. Being shown on the front of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow cereal had been a real treat at the time.

It was after the third victory that these events, the interviews, and the endorsements started to feel less fun. At that point, however, Pyrrha was obligated to do them regardless if she was excited to do it or it was even fun anymore. It had become work in essence, maintaining a public appearance. To be sure, the obligations never meddled with her education, but they still popped up every now and again, just like this ValeExpo.

If it was an obligation, why did I stay after I had finished the demonstration?

The answer, of course, was the red-headed girl sitting across from her.

Was I obligated to stay because of Ruby?

Pyrrha knew the answer to that was no, Ruby wouldn't have minded. If she left, after all, Weiss had been there, Pyrrha and Ruby running into her briefly. Sure, Weiss was obligated to stay near the SDC booth as she was one of the representatives for the company, but Ruby wouldn't have been alone. So then why did I stay?

I stayed because I was having fun.

Editor: ASouthernRussian

AU: This is a very different chapter. If anything its closer to the second chapter. As you can probably tell there is no overarching emotion. For the people that have said the first seven chapters were me doing a prologue…. Well to be honest at the time I would disagree. When I published chapter seven a week ago, the numbers of chapters I had planned was sitting at about seventeen. A week later and it's climbed to thirty four. I shit you not, this literally just doubled. Heck this chapter and the next arc (pardon the pun) are things that I realized were necessary about four days ago.

I was committing a cardinal sin with Acceptance; I was telling not showing. Sure I could tell all I want with Arkos, after all that is not the ship I'm trying to create. On the other hand I was not showing Pyrruby. The closest thing I have to a mentor for writing RWBY fanfiction is SuperSaiyanCyndaquil who has told me numerous times when I come to ask for advice, "write the story you want to read" and what I want to read is some Pyrruby emotions/fluff/cuteness. I'm not saying I'm going to stop doing the heavy emotions. By all means, that is still going to happen, but if my experience with writing my drabble collection for ladybug has taught me, its that the dynamic between two individuals is not something that can be easily pointed to as set points; rather it's a series of events of some level of importance. Even the most seemingly inconsequential thing furthers or alters the dynamic between two individuals in some manner or form.

For at the least the video game industry, the price at the door for passes at a Game Conference is insanely high. I'm talking several hundred to over a thousand for a pass, taking into account student pricing. A bit of out of character information, but Taiyang gets like two passes each year for it, for Ruby and Yang. Jaune was going to use Yang's pass. To be fair, this isn't the same thing, but it's still a few hundred lien for at the door prices.

Pyrrha was being a bit of a space cadet as well.

Rewatching parts of episode 3 of vol 2, I realized that Ruby never looks both ways when crossing the street. Ruby Rose lives dangerously literally.

IMPORTANT: Having just finished editing and about to submit it, I can't help but feel the departure from the normal format of Acceptance was too big. I don't want to get on my knees and beg, but I am writing this for you guys and gals reading it, so I would like to know if the change in style was a bad thing? I can return to the usual format for the next chapter but I need to know for the future. I guess I'm really needing reviews on your guys and gals opinion on this chapter.

Have a great day!