The Kyogen Mask [Job/Eight]

Job:

The redhead could finally take a breather today after doing all of those depressing missions... surrounded by those... dangerous people. Well, she wasn't necessarily think that they were dangerous, it was hard to describe BUT she certainly feel she had to be extra cautious to be around those guys... It felt a little bit suffocating actually, not because she couldn't get along with them... she was a pretty quiet person as well so not really talking with other person wasn't a problem for her. However spending time with them would sometime gave her a chill on her spine, but probably that was just her natural instinct... like how this small animals would react when they meet a stronger predator, she could fight back and win, but the chances would be less then 1% maybe? She didn't know yet, but she didn't want to try and ruin this.

As Altan took a stroll to the nearby market, she thought that this country was really beautiful. It got a similar vibe to Kou, but Kina definitely had its own charm. She would ask herself randomly though, if she preferred Kou or Kina more. But she couldn't really decide... Kou was good, that current emperor seemed to be a decent guy as well, however Kina... was also good, although she felt that there was a rather ominous feeling with all this clans... A sigh would escape her pale lips, she should try to stop thinking about that though and should just enjoy her walk. She went out to try and refresh herself anyways.

Maybe the Fanalis should treat herself... she kind of wanted some sweets to spoil herself a little bit, but... she never had a sweets from Kina before so she was a little bit scared to find out if she would like the flavor or not. But since she wanted it... she decided to just look around at the market and she would approach the first sweets stall she saw there. The redhead was amazed by the shapes of the sweets in Kina, it looks cute, colorful and pretty... almost like a decoration. She would ended up getting two types of the sweets, called mochi and kanten. After tasting both of them, Altan began to think that she made a great decision, she loved the flavor a lot. She sighed happily as the sugar helped her brain to make her happy again, definitely feeling more refreshed.

Not too far from her current location, she heard a commotion and she would follow her curiosity to get closer to the crowds. There was one man standing on top of a box in the middle of the crowds, sharing the news to other people about this legendary mask being stolen from the Hinamoto clan's vault. If she heard it correctly, this mask was a favorite mask of this legendary comedian? Well... she didn't really want to involve herself in unnecessary trouble... so Altan would turn her back from the crowds, planning to just go back for now.

WC: 503/1500

All of Kina was bursting with celebration in honor of the festival. Despite being late, just past sunset, there was a glow on the roads. The streets were littered with paper lanterns, glowing via candle light. Roads once empty now lined with carnival stalls. Some people offering games of chance and 'skill' for fantastic prizes, other offering delicious varieties of food that teased with thier fragrances, stimulating the appetite with just a glance. The slaver was adorned in a yukata a little slim for his build. Green with dark pinstripes running down the body of the outfit, matched by a black-dyed rope belt to cinch his waist. Instead of a shirt, he was bounded in white bandages across his body.

Eight had a skewer of Takoyaki that he couldn't resist purchasing. As he was getting allured by a man with a spinning wheel game, Eight heard a small commotion followed by a roar of laughter. Curiousity getting the best of him, he followed his ears to the event.

It was a man, standing a top of a wooden crate. His face was covered in an orante, painted and carved mask. The rest of the mans body was trapped in a skintight, jet black nylon, not even wearing  a pair of shoes. This area had quite the crowd but everyone seemed to be enjoying the performance to some degree.

The man stood at the corner of the crate, looking to the horizon with a hand for a visor. The performers feet grasping for dear life to the wood, but in that moment of a balancing act, Eight caught sight of something like a ruby: red and precious. Easily able to sift through the masses to the vermillion hair.

Unfortunately for the Fanalis, the only reason he was here, dressed as he was from intoxication. Bringing a pair of finger to his lips, blowing as if it were a whistle. Upon stealing all the attention in the room, Eight waved over to the fanalis girl. The slaver recalled the back of her hand surprisingly well. The crowd slowly turned back to him but the comedian on the makeshift stage seemed to slowly unravel. His voice wavering in the middle of his routine.

"Altan of the Bey clan; it is hard to forget a beautiful face." Eight definitely felt as if he had to prove to himself that he could still really break someone down considering he couldn't exactly get Dalia to her breaking point... It had to be because Dalia was such a unique case, right?

Eight nipped at the second bite of Takoyaki, then titled tip of the skewer of takoyaki towards Altan' face, right before her lips. Before she could refuse, the slaver spoke with his mouthful. "Don't say no, it's delicious."

[498/1500]

"I miss home..." The girl murmured to herself as she looked up towards the almost cobalt colored sky, painted with a little bit of orange color. Altan would close her eyes for a little bit, her expression seemed showing the pain she was feeling in her heart at the moment, she hated to admit it... but she was really feeling homesick. At time like this, they would be helping each other to prepare dinner and one of the clan's signature would be this spicy hotpot with a lot of lamb meats and vegetables. It was really good to keep yourself warm in the middle of the chilly night, those spicy dried chilies did their job really well, it seemed. She missed the togetherness, those calming laughter from the clansmen as they enjoyed their dinner and shared stories together. But she knew... she had to endure it, she had to bear with it. She should try to forget about her clan fot a little bit here so she could stay focused on helping the Kogata, it certainly would be very beneficial in the future for the Bey Clan.

A sudden whistle, a loud one, made Altan turn her head and started to look around the crowds at the area. The redhead spotted someone waving at her directions though, but she wasn't entirely sure if it was her that the man was looking for, she couldn't see him really well because of the moving crowds. It surprised her to see that it was Eight who waved towards her, wondering if he was here to spend his own free time as well. But it seemed that he was alone at the moment, those 2 female bodyguards of him weren't here... Dalia was nowhere to be seen as well.. But what Eight said made Altan flinched, what was this man trying to do... "Eight... are you strolling to enjoy your free time as well?" She said with a controlled composure and her eyes would be staring right into the man's eyes, feeling less nervous around him because he was wearing a different attire. The redhead admitted that Eight looked relaxed in his current attire, definitely not emitting this... dark vibe around him.

What was that on his hand though... Altan never had something like that before. Just by looking at the visual of the food and inhaling the smell of the food made the redhead started feeling hungry. Bad timing though... she could only hope her stomach wouldn't growl in front of this man, it would be very embarrassing... However, she was caught off guard with his action... he was trying to feed her that round shaped food. The redhead wasn't a simp for food, but Eight's next word made her feel bad. So as she tucked her hair to the back of her ear, she would open her mouth to accept the food before slowly chewing it. The girl would cover her lips with both of her hands, trying to hide how her lips move as she chewed the food quickly. "Thank you." The girl would say towards the man after she finished her food, grateful that he let her tried that delicious round shaped food.

"...I heard this news about a mask stolen from the Hinamoto Palace's vault that originally belonged to a legendary comedian just now." She would suddenly share the information, just to try and socialize more with Eight, although she was quite nervous on doing conversation with the man... He might not be the talking type...but at least she tried.

All of the sudden, there was a commotion happening not too far from where they were at the moment. "Hey, is that the mask?!" One of the people would say with a surprised tone, another one would also give their comment, "Oh yeah, it looks similar like that stolen mask, isn't it?" Some other people would also gave their own comment as they were watching this masked performer, some was sure that the mask that the performer wear was that stolen mask, another would be suspicious as well but they would subtly judging the performer. There was no more laughter coming from the crowds, not even amazement when the masked man kept doing his own performance. It was just this... bad talks...

The redhead would notice what was happening nearby, "They think that performer stole the mask...?" She muttered to herself, but Eight would also be able to hear it. Perhaps she could try to get close and maybe...if that was really the stolen mask, she could try to retrieve the mask and return it to the Hinamoto Palace's vault. "Please excuse me for a bit, Eight." The redhead would take a step ahead, wanting to get close to the masked man's performance crowds.

WC: 1298/1500

Chewing and chewing, there was a droning noise blocking out exactly what the fanalis was saying. Eight was in a daze thanks to a little hit he had taken earlier in the day. Biting down the corner of his bottom lip to stop himself from salivating. Now that he was in a different world from his norm, he was pretty intent on just capturing her now that he had no inhibitions. As he recalled the weight of his blade on his hip, Eight tuned in on her voice once more. "Ah, I heard about that..."

Instinctively turning to the comedian who was bombing and growing more and more furious as the people started booing and heckling him. And from the heckling, the accusations came shortly after. The buzz in the crowd started to unnerve the comedian. The man behind the mask, grasped the sides of his disguise as if to keep it from slipping off. His body language was erratic, the shaking from his hands to his feet along side his shaky, steadily octave-climbing voice.

Altan would excuse herself, intending to go take care of the comedian thief. But Eight couldn't have his capture be exposed to other potential predators. As she took her step, Eight reactively extended an arm to prevent her from going further. "I'll handle it, if it's the reward you're after, you can have that too." A seemingly generous offer, but it was just the price he had to pay.

Eight kicked off his wooden sandals with a swing of his ankles and started walking through the crowd. Drawing his sword out to clear a path. The angry mob slowly shifted to silent fear as Eight parted the crowd with his blade. "HUH, YOU THINK YOU'RE A FUNNY GUY? YOU'RE NOT EVEN A TOUGH GUY." The comedian hopped off his platform, slipping his toes beneath his polearm. The nagitana twirled a few times, and the masked comedian launched a punch at the center of the spins. His fist seemingly phasing through the weapons handle as he grasped the zounese spear, turning the bade Eight.  

"HYA-A-A-A!" The renegade fighter did back to back cross-slashes against Eight from his neck across his body, practically slicing the yukata off of him. The top sliding down to his waist, but even with the nagitana there were no traces of cuts against the Ooze Overlords flesh. The multiple strikes were insufficient to even graze him. "AAAH?!" The comedian looked completely bewildered as the crowd looked on, no longer even giving the comedian any attention, Eight being the central focus of cheers and claps when all he did was just take his attacks. "I WILL NOT BE THE BUTT OF THIS JOKE." The nagitana wielder debated just tossing the weapon, but fearing a dodge and being left completely defenseless, he charged full-force ahead instead. Taking a leap before striking at the slaver, with more force in a single strike.

After all that effort it only produced a single scratch. Eight's knees bent lightly, getting into a horse stance. Caressing the handle of his demon blade at his waist, at a speed comparable to Altan's current fanalis speed, slid on the ground almost quickdrawing the comedian with a magoi-infused demon blade.

*Ssssspppprrrt

Blood splattered everywhere, and there was a large gash temporarily, but within seconds all traces of that fatal blow disappeared.  Eight walked back towards his ally, but now the comedian obediently came behind him. The crowd jeering, but even through the crowds insults the comedian would bow and pass the mask onto the Fanalis admitting his crimes, and walking away from the scene.

1141/1500

Magoi - [350/360]

Demon Blade:

"Hm?" Altan was a little bit surprised when the man prevented her from going further, even saying that he would handle it. "Wait, Eight!" The redhead called the man as he dived into the crowd, she couldn't tell what he wanted to do and what was actually happening inside his head at the moment. Was he trying to be gentleman at this moment for not letting Altan to step into the matter and instead doing it for the redhead? ...but guess not, the redhead wouldn't expect that the man would do that kind of things anyway.

"Oh dear..." The Fanalis stayed still, drenched in a cold sweat as she saw what Eight was doing... Was he provoking the masked comedian...? Why would that masked man has a naginata...? She wondered if Eight would need help, but it would be more dangerous for her to actually join the fight with her fist... so she should just try to do what she was best at, her archery. But... Eight might hate it if she stole his prey, so for now, the redhead would wait and observe how the fight went. And what did she just see... all of those attacks, slicing on Eight's body but she saw no blood coming out... "What is happening..." She murmured to herself, couldn't understand how he could take all of those slashes directly with his body without getting any wounds. All of those slashes should be fast and hard enough to actually create a big injuries, but no, Eight was still maintaining his composure as if the attacks meant nothing to him.

It happened very quickly... and her eyes widened as she look at the end of the fight. Blood... gashing from the wound created by Eight, coloring the ground with a red color... She was still dazed from the way the man landed his final attack towards the comedian, but when the man walked back towards her, she would show her worried expression. "A-are you okay? Are you injured anywhere?" The redhead tried to scan the wound on his body, but there was no injuries... as if the slashes never landed on him. "How is that possible... are you not an ordinary human...?"

WC: 1500+/1500

The zombified jokester would go limp after handing over the mask, fingers releasing the treasure. The crowd wondering what had just happened, did the criminal use his dying breath after being attacked for his crime of stealing the priceless artifact. The Hinamoto would likely reward whoever returned the mask would receive quite the reward. "Hold onto that, we have some money to collect." He paused not paying too much to the man who fell before them, but he believed he should at least answer the womans questions. "I'm fine, this man put up a fair fight, but he made some poor choices, had he chosen to focus his strength into one blow, I might have actually needed to defend myself, instinctively reaching to his crystal broadsword as he thought of the course of action had the situation arised.

"I'm not a human, in fact, I was a fanalis before this." Eight noticed the crowd around them gathering, curious but also taking the fallen comedian to get him taken by the proper authorities. The slaver would start strolling down the path as if nothing happened, side by side with his current companion. "I was strong and fast as a Fanalis. However, it didn't matter I was born into slavery, and I've yet to truly escape, even though I don't know where he is and I don't believe he know where I am. I took a deal, a trade of sorts with some men. They've turned me into what I am now. They explained to me that I'm an Ooze Overlord... I have the power of magic, without the use of a staff. Part of that is an enhanced resistance to physical attacks, and am able to absorb other slime beings and turn their power into my own. But my stamina is much, much lower so I have to rely on magical tools and beasts to deal with my problems." Eight only mentioned the weakness of his lowered stamina, skipping over the weakness to flames, which she might be able to figure out had she any experience with slime magic.

Eight grew closer to her and his arms naturally extending his hand to rest on her hips. "Well, if we return this mask, we can eat more Takoyaki." The master could imagine what it'd be like to add this woman to his stable now that she was directly in his clutches, but he would resort to even more extreme tactics than he did with Dalia.