From Dark to Light, The Ink Maid becomes the Ink Knight! (Open to Sabertooth)

"This feels alright. The armor could be more useful, but I guess beggars can't be choosers. Gives me the look of a knight now, instead of a seductress." Matabei spoke to herself as she walked through the old guildhall of Sabertooth. She had bought some new clothing in order to go with her change. It was a simple button up shirt, and a blue skirt that was longer than the one she used to wear. Her hair had grown some, and she had dyed it to be more platinum blonde. She wore the armor that it came with, which covered the shirt entirely and her arms and legs, but it provided no protection what so ever. Matabei didn't mind though, she had the look she wanted to have. It was how she was going to change her status from Ink Maid.....to the Ink Knight of Sabertooth.

Matabei sighed as she continued her walk up the steps of the foyer, thinking about the entire situation. She had left Savage Skull without even saying goodbye to her master Aedre, and the thought that her master might try and track her down left a bad feeling in Matabei's gut. It meant that she would either have to run from her master, or allow herself to be killed for her sin. Matabei hoped Zenshin would be able to save her in that event, otherwise she might only get to be the Ink Knight for so long.

Matabei shook her head of those thoughts as she approached the balcony. It had been a slow walk, she usually walked extremely slow while thinking, and obviously took longer than it should have. She shook her head once more and walked onto the balcony, a short haze taking over her mind for the next few moments.

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When Matabei could clearly think again, she noticed she was on a platform of sorts in the air. This only made the Ink Knight irritated, as she did not know where to go from there. "Ugh. If only Marick was here, he'd know where to go. I should have asked him to keep me company." Matabei slapped her face twice and face palmed herself as she tried to think of a plan of action. Standing around wouldn't get her anywhere soon, and she needed to find where to go eventually.

Matabei would soon here the pitter-patter of paws as a certain young feline rushed to greet her. Of course, it wasn't exactly your usual cat. That would have been far too normal. No, this was a lion cub that belonged to Marick Lowell, the man now approaching Matabei with a grin. "You took your time Miss Goto. Go shopping on the way here?" he called out, referring to her attire change from the previous times he'd seen her. The lion cub was now rubbing up against the Ink Knight's leg, purring loudly as if he were actually your typical domestic cat. Of course he'd grow bigger yet and become more threatening in time, but right now he was just an affectionate little thing.

Marick calmly kneeled down and lifted the cub up, placing him so that his head was on his shoulder. "This is Mufasa. He likes the ladies apparently." he chuckled, before smiling at his new guildmate and close friend. "Welcome to Sabertooth. I'm going to guess Zenshin's going to let me give the 'grand tour' this time around. The rooms are to the right of the main building, so we'll head there first to help you decide on a room. Zenshin generally asks for that to be a priority for some reason."

Matabei turned her head towards the sound of tiny feet approaching, and saw a little lion cub approaching her. She smiled at the little creature, it was cute to her and she wanted to pick it up. She bent down to pet it, and heard a familiar voice call out to her. "You took your time Miss Goto. Go shopping on the way here?" Matabei looked up, the smile still on her face as she saw her close friend Marick. She knew he was obviously talking about her attire change, from her more seductive like attire to her Knightly attire now. She hugged the little cub and pet it, ignoring the slight blush she had because she remembered how the last time they met went. She had shown her rear to Marick on accident, and was hoping to never do that again. Matabei stood and nodded at Marick. "Yeah. I kinda went and got this. Also got my hair done. You like?" She asked as she showed off her hair.

Marick calmly kneeled down and lifted the cub up, placing him so that his head was on his shoulder. "This is Mufasa. He likes the ladies apparently." Matabei chuckled and nodded, appreciative of how her good friend was going to help her out around the guild. "Welcome to Sabertooth. I'm going to guess Zenshin's going to let me give the 'grand tour' this time around. The rooms are to the right of the main building, so we'll head there first to help you decide on a room. Zenshin generally asks for that to be a priority for some reason."

"That's because I want them to be able to move in as soon as possible if they don't have a place of their own and rely on their guild to provide housing Marick. Anyways, welcome to the guild hall Matabei, pick any room except for the one at the very end of the hall." Matabei turned to see her new guild master, Zenshin, approach the two. Matabei bowed to him as she saw him, showing her respect and loyalty to him now. She would better herself for both Sabertooth and her own future, wanting to make Marick and Zenshin proud of her. Matabei smiled at her guild master and Marick. "Thanks for the welcomes, and I will pick one closer to the entire guild hall if you both don't mind. I must be closer in order if I am needed for anything." She turned towards her guild master and bowed again. "Zenshin. Do not hesitate to ask anything of me. I will always drop whatever I am doing in order to assist you however I can." Matabei spoke passionately, and with nothing but respect in her voice. She was grateful for the offer her gave, and would never be able to thank him enough for getting her out of Savage. Even if she left her master behind, she could not stay there for much longer. It was not the place for her anymore.

"Who knew that lion cubs could hold a grudge..."

Marick chuckled as he looked at Mufasa. Admittedly he was still sore over the whole ordeal, but he was getting better. A few days ago he'd probably not have left go of Zenshin's gauntlet, so this was a vast improvement. He chuckled along to his guildmaster's joke nonetheless, receiving a paw to the face for the sudden noise which only served to make him laugh a little harder. After a few moments he calmed down, before turning to Zenshin.

"Oath? You haven't mentioned this to me before..." the Solitaire responded, rather quizzically. "...where and how would we take this oath?"
He'd heard mentions of these three values before; Faith, Selflessness and Conviction. For the most part he'd been able to keep to all of these values so far, although he was aware that he had probably let Zenshin down with his lack of conviction the day they'd met up with Matabei. Nonetheless he'd had no regrets about it and, now that Matabei had joined the guild as well, he'd be able to more readily dedicate himself entirely to Sabertooth.

"Over 2200 metres above ground sure is windy." A nervous remark drifted with the gusty gales, it's origin being none other than coatless knight. What was more interesting than that however, was not so much the voice's origin as it was its owner's location. Considering that his magical presence was concealed, one would have a rather hard time spotting him, but the irony in that would be that he is standing in the most visible place in the whole guild hall - the very tip of the central building's roof.

Certainly not the most comfortable place for someone with arcophobia, which is why it was the ideal place for a certain knight who is trying to combat his fears.

"Ghh...Relax... You can do this, Aegis. Concentrate. You can manage." Words of failed self-comforting as the swordsman barely even managed to balance on top of the narrow foothold, though that wasn't the reason why he was scarred. What was frightening was that he wanted to jump off, and survive without using magic, meaning he had to leap across about 50 metres and land on the platform leading to the guild's entrance. That challenge was something Aegis had been preparing for for longer than he could remember and it was finally time to end the struggle against his only real fear.
Slowly, he bent his knees, his hands outstretched for balance as his cyan eyes fervently scanned and planned a route, analysed possible trajectories and stared down at the height just like they weren't supposed to.

"Slowly... Gently.... Haaa... On three..........One."
He slowly moved his right hand in front of himself while positioning the left one opposite of it.
"...Two...."
His intonation rose as he carefully leaned forward, shifting his weight off of the support and-
"...Three!"
...He dashed down the length of the pole he stood upon, screaming like he's charging into battle as he reached the end of the pointy roof and kicked off of it with all his strength, like his life depended on it. Which, by the looks of it, was a rather fitting mindset.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, I HATE MYSELF SO MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCH!!!!!!!!"

The majestic knight flew like a concrete block. The afore-calculated trajectory was so off that it wasn't even funny, with him actually plummeting way faster than anticipated.

"DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAIT, DAIT, DAIT!"

With unparalleled grace he was diving face-first into the stone while looking like a natural-born swimmer, what with his vigorous paddling and kicking.

"BREAK FALL, BREAK FALL!"

Sure enough, the time for landing had come and everything was going oh-so obviously according to plan that Aegis was saying his final prayers. Regardless, he managed, through the divine intervention of luck and instinct, to break the fall into a roll, resulting in the point of landing becoming an indentation on the platform's surface. But the journey didn't end there, for his momentum was far too great. In stead, Aegis actually started barrel rolling, in every possible sense of the word, across the floor before managing to lean his body back and shift from rolling to skidding.

"WOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEE"

Skidding as he was, that didn't change the fact he was moving with at least 60 kilometres per hour, nor did it help him actually notice that there were people there, which was hardly surprising in his current situation. Despite the fact his heart was thumping like a machine gun, it got a whole lot worse when he reached the end of the hovering platform. His helpless body crashed right through the small wall tracing its circumference and ending up skydiving without a parachute, or almost did anyway, since another stroke of life-saving reflex lead his hand to latch on to the now jagged edge of the same wall responsible for turning his feet and shoulders blue. Then, through the power of adrenaline and fear combined he not only pulled, but tossed himself back on the hovering piece of stone using just one arm, and landed on his feet where he froze for a few seconds.

"Haaaa... haaaa..... haaaa... haaa..."

His chest heaved up and down, and his veins were throbbing like his whole body was on overdrive. With his eyes open wide in sheer amazement, he sharply began patting his torso as if believing he is dreaming.
"Ha... haha....BAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm alive! I'M ALIVE! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
With a sharp turn, the knight spun 'round and knelt down, doing something like a victory... uppercut?
"I did it! Boyah, gravity! I HAVE NO FE-..."

And suddenly, like an asteroid, the realisation that he wasn't alone struck him right in the dignity. His rather stupefied gaze shifted between the three figures, one of which was apparently a new face, so that same reflex and instinct that saved his life spat out a rather amusing-
"Err....Hey there! I uh... I was testing the quality of the floor!"

He lightly tapped his right foot against the stone floor.

"Yup. One-hundred percent stone alright. Mmmhm! Er..."
And, of course, true to his weakness to unexpected things, a blush formed beneath that cyan hair of his, lighting his cheeks on fire.