RWBY AU

Tyson attended Atlas Academy, and later chose to remain with the army, to spite his father: the late John Delaney. He trained as a fighter at a smaller hunter school before joining the army, to spite his father: the late John Delaney. He made it to the rank of Lieutenant, before Sebastian forced his hand into abandoning. Now, he uses his skills in his work for the Moriarty Mirrors.

In this AU, Tyson is a faunus; specially, a (Roe) deer faunus, not that most people could tell. He shaves down his antlers regularly and hides the slight stumps under a beanie. Though he misses his antlers and shaving them down can hurt if he’s not careful, Tyson thinks that it’s worth while to keep his identity hidden. Even in the criminal world, faunus aren’t always welcome.

Tyson’s weapon is a shield that transforms into a combination [fencing] sabre/estoc. When out of combat, it’s usual resting position is a circular shield that straps onto Tyson’s back, typically over his rucksack. His shield is silver with purple details, while the estoc has a silver and purple striped blade and a silver hilt/handle with purple accents. His weapon’s tertiary form is a glock-style handgun, primarily silver with purple accents; and uses the same hilt/handle of the sword form. He uses a variety of magazines each with a different type of Dust.

He uses Dust explosions to hide his strikes, thrown from vials kept on his belt. Tyson, also, uses rocks and earth for cover in fights; such as hitting up dust* with the sabre to blind opponents. Though being part of the web means that Tyson has access to any type of Dust he desires, Tyson tends to only keep three types on his person at any one time; liking the ability to adapt on the fly, without being weighted down by too many vials or magazines: that could be struck and explode accidentally. Largely he uses earth, ice, & gravity with water, steam, & lightening substituting where necessary. 
*real dust, fine dirt.

Tyson rarely uses his semblance. To effectively access it, Tyson needs complete concentration and to stay perfectly stationary; rarely possible mid-combat. His semblance is a shockwave that pulses out of his aura in all directions. Primarily it exerts forces against anything it contacts, but - providing that Tyson is aware of his surroundings - he can make it pass through/over something without damaging it; such as a team mate. It will sustain for as long as Tyson can keep still and focused, and has aura remaining; more powerful shockwaves will shake him too and break his concentration.

In his RWBY AU, Tyson has his emblem tattooed between his shoulder blades. He had it done - alongside his teammates having their own tattooed - when he was in a team with Captain Samson, Hal Malone, & Bùi Kimiko; before meeting The Colonel and before the dent in his torso was formed.

Tyson’s original team was ATHK (Artichoke), led by Andrew Samson. Now, Tyson is the leader of TCLD (Stormcloud) with Charlie Hotchner, Lex, & Dick Gannon. Though he and Sebastian were partners in the Atlesian army, they were never on an official huntsman team together. 

Tyson’s emblem represents a (digital) map pointer, a compass needle, & a compass rose. A compass pointer/rose rotates, as his weapon does, and resembles a shining sun; with one falling silhouette, who flew too close.

A motif continued in some of the other emblems. His mentor, Andrew Samson, has burning wings, or Roman-esque laurels, too close to the flames. Hal and Lex - who Tyson could have been, and who could have been Tyson in another life - have wings: Hal, as doomed to fall in glory as Tyson, and Lex with his false Caduceus; harming, rather than healing.

Kim, golden and glowing, has her arrows; fallen feathers, ready to shoot Tyson - and anyone else - completely out of the sky. Charlie’s favourite flower is Foxgloves, and here she is a fox who fights with her fists. And lastly, Dick: simple and to the point, he’s a salty old guard dog who has a trident and a shield. Simple.

Team ATHK - Artichoke

• Andrew Samson - Atlas - Flint & Steel || Tattoo on the centre of his chest
  Weapon: Fire-Dust infused parrying dagger & scimitar/SMG & Hunting Rifle
  Semblance: Practically immune to fire damage, redirects fire into his weapon.
• Hal Malone - Atlas - Aether & Fortuna || Tattoo on his left upper arm
  Weapon: Javelin/Spear/Wind and Fire Wheels & Off-hand Revolver
  Semblance: Never discovered before death.
• Bùi Kimiko - Mistral - Neith || Tattoo on the back of her neck
  Weapon: Recurve Bow/Twin Dao/Double-Barrel Automatic Shotgun
  Semblance: Quickly travel/teleport as a burst of gold-aura that leaves a trail of smoke.

• Sebastian Moran - Vale - Vae Victis - Tiger Faunus (Tail) 
  Weapon: High-Caliber Sniper Rifle/Zweihänder with removable Rapier core
  Semblance: Can activate his aura to boost his strength to tiger levels.

Team TCLD - Stormcloud

• Charlie Hotchner - Vale - Glamour & Valour - Fox Faunus (Ears) 
  Weapon: Dust-infused knuckledusters & Bladed-Tonfas/Kusarigama/Shotguns
  Semblance: Can manipulate her aura to appear invisible.
• Lex - Vacuo - Midas
  Weapon: Revolver Dust-infused Bo-Staff/Escrima Sticks/Nunchaku/Blow Dart
  Semblance: When touching another’s aura, ‘saps’ its energy to enhance his own aura.
• Dick Gannon - Mistral - Bulwark & Corvus
  Weapon: Expanding Scutum Shield & Trident/High-Caliber Sniper Rifle
  Semblance: Can repel liquids, from redirecting rain off his aura to ‘walking on’ water.

Originally from Atlas, Tyson works in Mistral & Vacuo within the web.

In this verse, the Delaney family is notable for making a place for themselves as a faunus family within the Atlas elite; a place they fought tooth and claw to secure, and continued to ruffle metaphorical feathers by primarily hiring other faunus.

• Anne Samantha Williams - Marsh Harrier (Wings)
• James Delaney - Rabbit (Ears)
• Jasmine Dartmoor - Persian (Ears)
• Jethro Andrew Delaney - Brown bear (Ears)
• John Delaney - Gemsbock (Antlers)
• Richard Delaney - Wolf (Ears)
• Rosie Delaney - Mountain Lion (Tail)

His aura is maroon and his semblance manifested at a family ball, when a drunk patron began tugging on Tyson’s antlers and threatening to snap them off. When using his semblance or activating his aura, the remaining stumps of his antlers glow like beacons under his beanie, alongside any red in his clothes; like the red in his gloves and the red stripe of his beanie. 

Alongside his actual weapon, Tyson keeps a secondary/back up weapon on hand: a store-bought dust-powered pistol/dagger - Pale Sigil that doesn’t require him to carry additional ammo. His weapon is called Triumph, because it uses three separate forms:

Throughout all three stages of Triumph, the handle/hilt with its dual-triggers (and open end for ammo magazines/dust vials) remains the same. To change between the three forms, Tyson rotates the handle in a particular direction. From the sword, rotating clockwise changes the weapon into a pistol and counter-clockwise goes to the targe-style shield.

As a pistol (Tres), Triumph has three modes of fire further augmented by the type of ammo that Tyson is using: single shot, three round burst, and fully automatic. The scope uses a red circle-dot sight and he can turn the guidance laser on/off as desired. Largely Tres is used as a mid- to long-range distance closer.

As a light-weight finesse sword (Trois), Tyson can load in a vial of dust to affect the strikes: typically with ice to freeze opponents once a strike lands. The tapering blade is shaped like an estoc, but has slightly less length; the length of a fencing saber. Tyson generally uses Trois as one would a fencing sword or rapier to fight in his preferred close- to mid-range.

As a targe-style shield (Drei), Triumph’s handle becomes the front grip for his hand and a second securing strap appears behind it for use on either arm. Typically Drei is only used to defend against a particularly strong attack, but he will use it with his backup weapon and vials of dust when he knows he’s in a tricky position.

The purple pattern on Drei is the central part of Tyson’s emblem, based on a compass rose and the sun. Having partially based each form of Triumph off of weapons his family used in the Faunus Rights Revolution & Great War, Tyson decided to keep the traditional family purple rather than matching his own maroon aura.

To keep the element of surprise, Tyson can spin Triumph through several forms before pausing on the desired mode. When not in use, Triumph stays as Drei and attaches to the metal plate on the back of his rucksack. It can stay in any form, but Tyson finds a shield safer to carry around than a gun or a sword.