"Aaaah!" she yelped as the hulking monster's attack bashed her over the edge. Her eyes never saw anything like it. It looked like a bunch of wood and clockwork holding together by sheer will, slowly shuffling around the place. She underestimated it. The speed with which it swung its wooden mace at her was far greater. The impact sent her stumbling backwards. Unable to stop, she fell over the guard rail and for a moment saw the terrible fall that awaited her. With all of her will, she reached out in time and grabbed the rail, dangling on nothing but two of her fingers that were tiring rapidly. Hearing the ringing sound her dropped sword made as it hit a piece of the clockworks somewhere below and seeing the shadow of the approaching lumber, Lantea knew her days were numbered.
Looking up to the eyes of her executioner, she awaited death as the lumber charged to strike the final blow. Then she heard a loud clang followed by a blinding flash of light. Next thing she knew the lumber was falling down to the death that should have been hers. Feeling her fingers slipping from the rail, Lantea looked up with a last spark of hope. "Grab!" she heard from above, and a giant sword came to her view. The cracks on the weapon glowed with sheer power. Her eyes lost in the beauty of it, she almost fell down, grabbing the hammerhead shaped thing in the nick of time. Feeling a tug, she was swung up, on her way catching a glimpse of the knight that pulled her out of the jam. The ridiculous jelly helmet with a moustache and smoking a pipe would be forever carved in her memory. Hitting the ground after falling from a rather wide arc, her battered body gave out and Lantea sunk into darkness.
When she woke up, something was off. No part of the clockworks smelled like this - or rather didn't smell at all. No smoke, no ozone, no toxic waste, no flowers. Just clean air. She was also lying on something soft. Carefully dragging her hand along the surface below her, she realized it was cloth. She was definitely moved. Why was she out anyway? Her mind struggled to remember, still jumbled from - oh that's right. A living mass of wood hit her pretty hard, and then she nearly fell, and then she was saved by impostoclaus... wait what?
Her eyes snapped open only to narrow into two slits again as the light hurt them. The ceiling above her confirmed she was no longer in the clockworks. But then... where? "Yay, you're awake!" something overly enthusiastic next to her shouted, making her cringe. "That... That hurt my ears." Lantea groaned. she heard a snap and looked in the direction, finding a pink haired knight with her hands slapped over her mouth and sorry look in her eyes. "Somhmh!" came a muffled 'sorry'. Lantea found the strength to roll her eyes. Looking around, she was in some kind of a bunk room, the other person sitting on the bed next to her. "What's this place?" the blue haired knight asked, looking around as her eyes slowly coped with the light.
"You're in our guild hall. Oh you were such a mess when Zen brought you in. That deep in the clockworks with only that gear, it's no wonder though. What were you thinking?" Cheery rambled, only stopping when she noticed Lantea's face. "Oh, right. Too loud. Sorry. Feel better now?" Lantea tried moving for a bit, and eventually managed to sit in the bed. "Yes, as fine as one can be after... that. I should really be worse. Thank you, ...?" Lantea looked at Cheery with questioning expression. "Iiiiiiii'mmmm Misty!" the other knight said, imitating cheerleader moves. "'N you?" Blinking a few times trying to comprehend the person in front of her, Lantea managed to stammer out her name. "Pleased to meet you!" Misty said, grabbing and shaking both of her hands. "OUR hall?" She managed to ask, still not quite getting her bearings. but Misty was all too happy to answer: "Why the Tectonic guild of course! Our Guild Master found you in the clockworks grasping straws, quite literally. Your lights were out so he got you the heck outta there. You weren't in a good shape let me tell you that. It took some effort to revive you." Misty said, her voice becoming more tranquil and her happy expression changing to a concerned one. "I'm fine, really. Thanks. I suppose I should thank the guy." Lantea said, taking a breath to say something else, but Cheery interrupted her: "Sure! I'll call him! Wait here!" She shouted and vanished in a blaze of speed. resigning, Lantea's head hit the pillow as she lied down and waited.
It didn't take long and the familiar knight entered the room, only to find Lantea checking out the gear on display, bored out of her bed. "Nice to see you up and about." He said. Lantea slowly turned around and gave the knight a bit of a stare. She couldn't tell what, but something in that voice sounded a bit off. Deciding to shed it, she walked over. "Thank you for getting me out of there. I'd have been a stain on the ground somewhere deep if you weren't around. Sorry to spoil your mission" the blue knight said with a grateful bow. The other knight waved a hand over it. "It's not a big deal. It was just training. I have served my missions." he said, tapping the crest on his armor. Lantea looked and understood: A vanguard. "Oh! Sorry, sir!" she corrected herself, gathering her composure. Smiling, the other knight shook his head: "At ease, noobie. The name is Zenihdrol. I'm the current, although not founding, master of the Tectonic guild." he introduced herself. Lantea's stance relaxed a little. "I've done some digging. You aren't registered with any guild. How would you like to join us?" Taken aback, Lantea shook her head: "Me? But.. I'm but a Knight." With the tiniest of shrugs, Zen answered: "Doesn't matter. We'll help you get further up!" thinking only for a second, Lantea nodded.
"Great! I assume you already mer Misty?" Snickering, Lantea nodded: "I did allright. Where did you find her?" "Dunno. She was here before I was. She's the guild's unending source of optimism, as you noticed no doubt. And above all else, my second in command." Zen explained, making Lantea choke on her own breath. That earned a laugh from the other knight. "Yeah, everyone reacts always the same to that. I'll have her show you around." With that, her new Guild master left. A minute later, Misty bounced back into the room: "I knew it! I so called it!" she almost sung, glomping ger new guildie. Failing at resisting her, she let her go on: "I told 'em you'd join! I knew you would! You had to! We're awesome! Come I'll show you around!" the ever cheerful knight said, grabbing Lantea's shoulders and promptly leading her out of the room.