Disguised as:

---

It wasn't the kind of thing that Tomoe had grown accustomed to yet. Having recently happened across a rather intriguing item, the Joyan sought to put it to the test. Rather than assume his usual self, as bright and noticeable as a rose among dry grass, he decided to take up one of the forms that his new item possessed.

Ormus' Hundred Hoods. Whatever kind of person was so paranoid to require one hundred faces, Tomoe dared not question. He was simply glad that such an item existed for his use. The arrogance of mankind was assuming that they could accomplish all that they desired with a single face, or a single self to identify as. That was why people required armies, or why they required associates to do what they couldn't. Under the full potential of this hood, however, Tomoe could serve as his own private army. He would still be one person with a single mind, but the illusion of a force of unknown numbers lurked just in front as a curtain to obscure the truth.

With such an item thrust upon him, Tomoe had no choice but to accept his fate. That would bring him to the present day, having accepted a quest under a new identity as...

"Ruby Red.", Tomoe would say to his employer, masquerading as a gloomy teen in a schoolgirl uniform with an unassuming traveller's cloak around her neck.

With dead fish eyes and an uneven and unkempt black tangled mane of noodle hair, Tomoe accepted the quest to enter and inspect the mines of Sieghart Mountain as Ruby Red. His - or her? - journey was just beginning with newfound vigor. Assuming an identity felt comforting to the Joyan, not needing to worry about what others might think of him now that he'd been forced into the role of guild master. It was tiring to hold back in the public eye, needing to smile and wave in situations where he'd rather thrash about like a street thug. In this way, the hood allowed him to show parts of himself that he'd never have thought to reveal.

Such was Ruby Red, the gloomy and deranged nihilist girl with a need to smoke cigarettes improperly and stub her toe on small objects. The frame of that tiny girl entered the mine shaft, ready to begin her quest.

---

Spells used:

WC: 391/1700 [15% reduced]

Disguised as:

---

Tomoe, as Ruby, descended into the mine. They gave him a hard hat to see with, a lacrima burning its bulb out within the helmet. At first he thought it would be useless for the purpose of this endeavor, but the further he walked into the inky blackness of the caves and earthen spirals of the mine, the more he realized his limits. No matter how strong he became, he would always be a human at the end of the day. No amount of magic or wisdom would raise him above that, and such thoughts went through him every day.

Cold drafts came from further within the mine, powerful enough to ruffle his cloak and leave his frail and girly body exposed to the elements. It was odd, taking up a form with such drastic physical differences and characteristics, but the Joyan would manage somehow. It allowed him more covert freedom, and more importantly safety from prying or suspecting eyes - and that was what he valued most of all. His eyes possessed more bags than a mother back from the market for her hungry family, taking up the form of some odd insomniac with a hair grooming problem. He couldn't have imagined that his first form would be so odd and pitiful, but it was how it was.

Observing rocks as he passed, Tomoe grew disheartened more and more. He was hired to find something spectacular in the mine, and in the process he had found nothing more than unremarkable rocks, soot and some annoyed miners. He could feel daggers staring at him from behind as he passed through the natural corridors of the mine. People would stop their swings to observe the young lady before them, knowing full well that she was there to scout things out for her employer. Tomoe knew these things well, having been on the other side earlier n life. He knew the frustrations of the commoners and the working class, and that it wouldn't be long before he'd stumble onto something that he was hired to find.

Feeling this, and knowing full well the folly of the powerless to fight against those in power, Tomoe had his hands ready to reach for his sword at any moment. Before that could happen, however, another strong gust had almost knocked the Joyan off his feet as he turned a corner to venture deeper into the abyss. It was enough to nearly shatter the shoddily made lacrima that gave him light, and the shapeshifting swordsman's brow furrowed immediately once the current had died down.

Upon listening closer, the direction of the gusts also gave way to the light sounds of what appeared to be voices. Screaming voices, that grew louder as Tomoe advanced towards them. Reaching a vast section of the cave, the Joyan had finally seen what the cause of the wind and the noises was.

Before him was a misshapen humanoid entity. It floated off the ground, ethereal and made from what seemed to be wind magic.  Such a creature was not meant to dwell here, and Tomoe knew this without question. Before the being were a number of miners who had long since given up fighting and instead merely gazed in horror at the abominable spirit before them.

At that point, fight or flight kicked in within the warrior's head. Was it worth it to save the defenseless workers, or to turn around and run? To the Joyan there was no other way if he wanted to get paid at the end of this; he drew his blade while still masquerading as the pale, raven-haired girl. His vision focused, feeling as if the next few exchanges would decide everything. Narrowing almost to slits upon realizing that the specter had also noticed him, he extended his blade outward in defense to prepare for the next few seconds.

"I-I'll end you shortly! Heheheh.", Tomoe spoke aloud as the darkened features of the girl crawled into what could be considered a goblin-esque grin, trying his best to play a character he had no idea how to play.

---

Spells used:

WC: 1140/1700 [15% reduced]

Disguised as:

Despite being a creature made up of magical winds, Tomoe kicked up a fierce wind of his own as he rushed forth towards the ghost whose form made no sense to the mind of a mortal. Its body was fickle, fading in and out as it unleashed its magical energy and shot forth a razor-sharp gust of wind. Tomoe was unafraid of this, however, having seen magic of deadlier capacity before. He allowed it to strike his armor, damaging it severely but nevertheless refusing to yield. Due to the Joyan's overwhelming ability to endure on top of that, the force was not enough to hinder him. The samurai pressed on with superhuman speed and finally reached the ghostly creature. With a confident grin plastered across his face, obscured as the face of a woman who hasn't seen sleep in months, he slashed at the entity with malicious intent. Expecting to see it fall instantly, his blade instead passed right through its core and out the other side without incident.

"Shit, shit, shit.", Tomoe muttered as he jumped away, raising his sword forward once more on instinct once he had avoided the creature's follow-up swipe that attempted to behead him.

In a single motion, Tomoe lunged forth with his sword, trails of lightning brilliantly reflecting off of it and forming a wide beam of magic to rush forth. With cold and steady accuracy or perhaps simply raw destructive power, the beam pierced through the geist. It howled in pain like a raging tornado before its ethereal form gave way. Struggling and failing to maintain its grip on the world, it quickly dissipated into thin air.

There was a quiet about the area. A quiet that was immediately disrupted by the sound of miners rushing into the clearing to see Tomoe - or rather, Ruby - with his blade drawn. They were in shock, however, at the sight that the Joyan had turned his attention to next. In front of him were freshly burned bodies of the miners that he had tried to defend. Instead, it seemed they were caught in the blast and had become soot for people to walk on. The miners, seeing nothing of the magic spirit beforehand, drew their tools and began to charge at Tomoe assuming he had come to attack them.

"God dammit. This sucks. C'mon, guys, cut me some slack here."

The remainder of the encounter was not something that could be described to the faint of heart. Slash after ruthless slash was delivered to the poor workers of the mine, butchered like a meat shop preparing their goods for a merry Christmas. Such actions were the price that heroes had to pay for their deeds sometimes, though luckily these deeds were ones not attributed to the man known as Tomoe Tanaka. Rather, they were the actions of some insane rapscallion by the name of Ruby: an insomniac who decided her only choice left was to cut loose. Cut loose she did, delivering blow after blow and ending lives as swiftly as a barber would trim hairs.

Truthfully, in this moment of bloodlust, Ruby - no, Tomoe - would only see the workers of the mine as unworthy antagonists in the grander story of Ruby Red, the Bloody Barber of Dawncliff. To her, these insignificant soot-laden goons needed to be taught a lesson in fear, and to get more than a close shave once they had realized such things. Many hairs would be trimmed that day as she went to work dishing out her services.

Such a sadistic devil was not without her mercies, however. She had let a quarter of the total mining population alive to spread word of her deeds, disarming them instead. In some cases, quite literally. More would tell her tale in time, and Tomoe in his reddened vision had yet to fully let go of the side of him that embraced HER in all of HER glory. Nevertheless it wasn't him who had done those awful things to those people; it was Ruby. He was blameless in that situation, wasn't he? How could he take the blame and the infamy for something that he hadn't truly done? There was nothing to it, of course. That Ruby scoundrel had to be caught and brought to justice with all due haste, and one day Tomoe would be the one to do just that. He swore on his honor as a warrior and as the guild master of Penumbral Guard that he would apprehend the Bloody Barber and see her brought before her victims to apologize and be put to death. That was the end she deserved.

In the meantime, however, Tomoe exited the mine shaft still fully appearing as Ruby herself. There was nothing to it, as he had done what he needed to do. As fate would have it, there were many freshly untouched mining nodes to be explored by his employer. Secretive were the miners who hoarded the best for themselves, not allowing public eyes to see their gold ore deposits and the many shining gems that made themselves known to Tomoe after he had done a bit of cleaning of the bodies that came to attack him. He was sure his employer would be happy, and somehow the Joyan got the feeling that Ruby Red would be back once more for further inspections at a later date. Perhaps next time, she would be treated with more respect.

---

Spells used:

WC: 1700/1700 [15% reduced]

- Exit -