Disclaimer: I do not own either RWBY or Star Wars
At the headquarters of the Army of Union little had changed since last Wayle saw it, but there were a number of interesting differences.
For one, it was even busier.
Even with the completion of the majority of over-ground construction, there was still quite a bit of underground work being done. Furthermore, the number of people moving about had increased, and he could easily spot many different types of supplies being moved about.
The second one only became apparent once he entered the main administrative building.
At first it seemed fine, but then he started encountering not only quite lavish things, such as tapestries and chandeliers, but even a few busts in his image. And nothing of it looked cheap, no, it all seemed like the genuine article.
So when he finally reached the room holding the most likely culprits his steps were hurried and he was holding in what he could only assume to be a budding headache.
He had barely opened the double-doors into the meeting room and started to enter before Ouka noticed his presence, immediately kneeling.
"Master! You have returned!" She immediately exclaimed, drawing the attention of all the other people in the room.
The young Sith took a few moments to survey the room, noting the Captain sitting further away, his expression morphing from one of boredom to a grin as he raised his hand and uttered a friendly greeting, Aureus turned around serenely, a smile forming on his lips as he bowed.
"Welcome back my Lord. I trust your visit to Beacon went well?"
Near him Felis jumped in an uncharacteristic manner as she realised his presence, seemingly having somehow missed it. It seemed like she had prior been considering something on the table around which they were all stood.
"M-my Lord!" She said hastily as she almost hit her head in her haste to display her fidelity.
On the opposite end Roland bowed with a slight smile.
"Welcome back Lord Tyran. I am happy to have no urgent reports." He said, a light tone of humour in his voice.
"Thank you everyone." Wayle responded, gesturing that they be at ease. "That is good, Roland. Excellent work." He first said to the retired Huntsman. "A bit… interesting, but otherwise quite well, Aureus." He then addressed the young administrator.
And with the pleasantries dispensed with, the young Lord addressed the main issue.
"So, anyone mind explaining all the lavish decorations? We do not have the funds for such extravagance." He queried, his expression neutral.
"That, my Lord, would be my handiwork. As you might remember, my family has quite a bit of wealth, and I decided to provide the decorations from my own pocket." Aureus replied with a graceful smile on his face.
That was right. The Aureus family was wealthy, maybe not Schnee levels, but enough to be noticeable. But…
"Is that truly alright? I thought your family was unwilling to provide direct support, even if you, the head, is." Wayle questioned, remembering why he had not expected anything from the Aureus family, at least not for free.
"As I said, the funds were provided directly from my own, not those of my family. They are unable to do anything about it." The young man replied.
"Worry not my Lord. It might be a bit… extravagant, as you said, but projecting grandeur is a good way to instil a feeling of legitimacy, even if it is but small." Roland interjected.
The Sith quelled a sigh as he heard these words. "Fine, I… I will allow this. As long as care is kept for funds, it will not become a problem. Just make sure that extravagant embellishments are kept at minimum priority." He acquiesced in a resigned tone.
"Speaking of embellishments, Master, we would ask your input on something." Ouka interjected, turning back towards the table they had been gathered around.
"Hmm? What is it?" He asked curiously as he approached the table.
"Well, we were considering a banner for the Army of Union, and came up with several designs, but-"She started explaining.
"I thought I already approved that you all create one." He looked at the various designs strewn about the table, reflecting upon that most of them were the same, albeit with different extra emblems. "I do not see any problems with these. Did you want my input?"
"Nah, you see Lord Tyran, we were fine with the base design. The problem was, they wanted one to involve your own emblem, but then we realised that we don't know it." The Captain explained with a slight snicker. "It's been driving Felis insane since she doesn't have the foggiest clue, despite her pride in her information gathering skills."
It took Wayle a few moments to process fully the comment, another few to realise that many of the Hunters in Remnant possessed emblems of their own, be they personal or family. He also came upon the insight that he often saw personal emblems besides those of a planet or those of the Empire back in his old galaxy.
He really should have known.
"Well that changes things. I don't have an emblem of my own." He explained somewhat nonchalantly, shrugging slightly.
This earned him several stares from all those present, apart from Latune, who, knowing of his otherworldly origin, had learned of and come to terms with his lack of an emblem quite some time ago.
"You were a student of Beacon yet lack an emblem?!" A surprised outcry came from Roland, the aged Huntsman knowing well that most, if not all Hunters admitted to one of the schools possessed an emblem to identify them with.
"Oh. That explains why there is no identifying mark on your person, you don't use one." Felis said thoughtfully, a slight twitch in her facial muscles and shoulders indicating she was holding in a laugh, although what kind was uncertain.
"Yes. I have my own circumstances, but I never was your typical Huntsman. An emblem had never been part of my thoughts." The Lord explained.
As stunned silence covered the room he took some time to properly examine the banner itself.
It depicted two figures, one Human, and one who he assumed represented the Faunus, seeing as its head was the same as the one on the old White Fang's emblem, each holding a banner with the Vytal emblem on it, standing back to back.
He had to admit, he had been afraid he would dislike the emblem chosen, but this… he kind of liked it, it was straightforward, clearly representing unity, not only between Human and Faunus, but also between the Kingdoms.
Finally someone clearing their throat a bit broke the silence.
"Master, I believe this is a good time to renew the suggestion you create an emblem of your own. Even if it doesn't necessarily now represent you as a Huntsman, but would instead now represent you as a ruler." Latune chimed in, happily reminding him that the suggestion had existed once.
He looked around to see approving gazes all around. They wouldn't let this go, not now. Thinking about it, even Jaune had one, and he wasn't exactly a paragon of what a Huntsman should be, nor was he admitted properly. Although he did have a sneaking suspicion that the emblem was familial, much like Weiss'.
Wait. Ruler…? Malachor damn it.
-Break—
After quite a bit of time, as well as a few debriefings to ensure that his growing organization was holding up, the young Sith took to deliberating an emblem, having surrendered to the overwhelming pressure.
He still hadn't been able to talk to them about that whole ruler thing, but he had an unpleasant feeling that he would be unable to convince them to abandon those thoughts. He had simply let them run rampant with that idea for far too long, and suddenly Ozpin's comment about his hegemony made even more sense than before.
Still, Wayle had taken much time to try and figure out what his emblem would be. If he had to create one, then is should be something that he felt resonated with him. So now there he sat, in the already somewhat messy study that was now his.
First, he thought about one of his main aspects, a desire for knowledge, and the high level of power he had acquired through it. After quite some deliberation on the matter, he finally settled for a tome, as books of all kinds had long represented knowledge when it came to symbolism. Further he decided to make it an open tome, seeing as he felt it would look better.
Next, he would have to look for something else, something that was simple, yet still held some level of relevance to him. He considered a variety of ideas, yet for simplicity he was constantly drawn back to the idea of a blade, for while it was quite common, it held much symbolism as well. Ultimately he gave in, and settled for it, to represent his martial might, for while he was one who preferred knowledge and the Force, he still held much skill in the martial realm, and preferred to use that while hiding the true extent of his power. Certainly he had met many who outmatched him in that area, and due to this, in combination with his preference for the other, he decided to have the blade behind the tome.
While that might be sufficient for some, he felt like there was something missing. Something else that could represent him…
Before he knew it he had made one final addition to the draft, a detail that kind of surprised him. Two intertwined strands that perfectly circled the tome and blade. For a while he just sat there looking at it wondering what it actually was, until finally realisation dawned upon him.
The Force. The two strands represented the two sides of the Force, with the intertwining representing that the two sides of it were inseparable, forever bound to one another, one could not exist without the other. The fact that they formed a circle represented the infinite nature of it, the fact that there was as much of the Force as there was life. It was everywhere, binding everything.
Even, as he had realised much later, the Grimm had some connection. They were not completely removed from the natural order, just in violation of it. Which made sense, since being near them was just unpleasant, and nothing worse.
He leaned back in his chair. The study was still somewhat bare, only really a desk and an accompanying chair. Yet already his desk was covered in things, and he knew it would only get worse from then on.
He took a few moments to reminisce about his room back in his Master's stronghold. Even Amara, an extremely chaotic individual had been appalled at the messy state it had been in whenever she would visit.
Personally he couldn't quite see what the problem was, as long as he knew where things were that was good enough for him.
He pointedly ignored any memory of when he had been unable to find something.
Idly he used the Force to bring to him one of the few objects from his past he had been able to bring with him.
A Holocron recovered from the vaults of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. A reminder of one of the most heinous acts he had ever participated in.
The treaty violating sacking of Coruscant, where the Sith had directly attacked the capital of the Republic, destroying the Jedi temple there as well as causing massive damage to the city itself, as well as its people.
And the battle where he slew an old friend.
Author's notes: I have no idea what happened when I was writing this chapter, but I just couldn't get it done in a good amount of time at all. I got distracted, either by my own doing or something else, and before I knew it a heck of a lot more time than intended had passed. And I don't know why.
If this chapter seems a bit unfocused, then that is because I started writing it, then couldn't finish it, and by the time I started writing again somewhere around a week had passed methinks. I would like some feedback on some of the things in this chapter, especially the emblems mentioned. Actually, primarily those. Ultimately I'm happy with the Army of Union one, but Wayle's personal emblem is something that is still subject to change.
I hope you enjoyed and that you have a nice day.