Alice and Hatter looked up. An ancient man stood above them. He was dressed in what once was a shining suit of armor. He was completely covered in the rusting metal except for his face, which sported a long white goatee and mustache.
"Saboteurs!" He accused them as they propped themselves up on their elbows to get a better look at him. You have got to be kidding me... Hatter thought to himself. "I was this close!" He held his hands a few inches apart from each other to show the distance. Sure you were old man. "This close!" He repeated. He returned his hands to his sides. "Degenerate bagheads!"
Hatter shook his head, and slowly pulled himself to his feet, testing to see if anything was broken while trying to ignore the lunatic that was ranting above them. He pulled Alice to her feet. They looked around. There was a long root that dangled into the pit on the far side. He indicated it to Alice, who nodded. They soon found themselves out of the pit, and looking it at the tin-plated insane asylum escapee.
He continued to insult them as he came around the pit, shaking his finger at them, and pulling off his mail hood to reveal a balding head. "Bug bashers!" He hissed when he finally came to a stop, about ten feet in front of them.
"Who the hell are you?" Alice asked him. Straightforward. Hatter thought.
The man straightened up. "I-" He clanked forward, his legs stiff. "-am a knight!" He said matter-of-factly. "The White Knight, to be precise."