Sage winced slightly when she yelled, knowing how badly it was going to hurt, especially since he doubted she'd ever broken anything in her life, and it was undoubtedly a new experience, albeit a horrible one. But he also knew that it would swell for a bit as she healed, and then it would go down in about ten, fifteen minutes since she was healthy, and the pain would ebb away. It would still hurt if she touched it or anything, but just having it lay there, she really shouldn't feel much. He had expected her to yell, though it was bit angrier than he had expected. He didn't really care, his brain wasn't working enough to feel an actual emotion (other than panic of course, he couldn't get out of that one, could he?). When she rested her arm on his side, he let out a breath of a sigh...he wasn't sure she would even hear it....but right now, she was the only thing keeping him here, both mentally and physically. If he was here alone, he'd have just let himself close his eyes and slip away; he'd have been cold by now. He definitely wouldn't have been fighting this hard for so long. The rope and fabric had stopped most of his bleeding, though, and while some still leaked into the shirt, it wasn't enough that would bleed out, at least he didn't think so. It was holding the wound together, so even though he was still shaking, it wasn't tearing it open any more. Anya had more street smarts than she thought.

(Want to skip a few weeks? We could have them there for a dead long time lol)

After a short while, the pain slowly started to shrink away from her... it made the girl feel a little bad at yelling, but she could have used some warning... rather that hearing the click of her bone followed by searing pain. Now though, it wasn't as bad as she had thought... she could put the tiniest amount of pressure on it, but it hurt like a bitch. She eventually just let that hand sit in his hair, gently playing around with it as a sort of comfort. Given, the movement of her fingers caused a ton of pain, but she would rather have to deal with that than panic like a headless chicken. She could feel him shaking in her arms, so she held him a little tighter, trying bring some sort of relief to the movement. She was panicking somewhere deep down, but in the forefront of her mind was that eventually, someone would come and get her. They would get out of here, and this time, she wouldn't get herself into trouble anymore. She would stay up in the castle where she was safe. She would take Sage with her too, and he could leave whenever he was ready. She had to be brave for the both of them for now, though. Which was something she really wasn't accustomed to.

(lol yeah I like that idea!)

Sage wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, but it seemed like an eternity. Not much happened in the tiny cell....he lay there with Anya, trying not too panic enough to throw up the little food he could manage to get down or black out. He'd done both, a few times, which was a bit annoying, and really was trying his best not to. But it seemed like the only thing he could hold down was some water here and there, and maybe a bit of bread every once in a great while. He could tell he'd lost weight, and while his blood count had gone back up and his shoulder had eventually stopped bleeding, he didn't really feel any better. His shoulder still hurt like hell, and there was no doubt an infection was brewing...the dirty rope and cloth had saved him for now, though once the infection gave him a fever and became much worse, he could very well die from that. Especially since he was so weak right then...they hadn't talked much, he didn't have the breath for that. Or, really, the energy. He still felt like crap...and he was sure Anya didn't feel all too great either. He'd held on for a very, very

long time, and it was getting harder and harder. They could sleep a bit, though the knot of panic in his chest never went away, making it incredibly difficult to get any rest. As time went on, they spent most of their time just laying there, Anya doing her best to comfort him. He didn't know what she was thinking...as far as he knew, he'd never told her why he was claustrophobic, but whether she knew or not didn't matter...she was still just doing her best to try and help. He did wonder though, as time went on, surely people were searching for Anya. She was the princess, and to be honest, she shouldn't have been all that hard to find. Hopefully someone would find her soon, and get her back to the castle where she could be taken care of. He'd...well, he wasn't sure what he'd do. Anya would get him out of here, and then what? He assumed he'd just go find a fight and sleep for the rest of eternity somewhere. But he didn't know...he couldn't think through anything straight.

Anya found that the concept of time, night and day, had just completely disappeared. It was just always dark. Always cold. But strangely, the cold was a comfort. If it was any warmer, she felt that she would have collapsed... weather it'd be because of dizziness or a migraine, the cold weather seemed to keep

most of it at bay. It probably didn't help that she couldn't keep any food down. None. She had always tried a few bites, but it always came back up. It was strange... the very idea of food eventually made her queazy. As a result, she had lost weight... a lot of it, and pretty quickly too. It probably hadn't helped that every time she woke up she would gag up bile from an empty stomach. The healthy glow in her face became dull and pale, and the healthy curviness of her whole figure had diminished... her ribs eventually started to protrude from her. But she didn't care... not really. She was still bargaining on someone coming to get them. By now, her mother would have been leading the search... a small fleet of guards would be behind her, all the way. And god, Anya wished they would be there soon. She was loosing the will to do anything. To take care of herself, shout her lungs at the men around, or even to look after Sage... which was something she had promised she would never tire of doing. Every now and then, she would be dragged out, but she normally wouldn't make it very long in the light, so she would be blacked out by the time she was dumped back again. She didn't know what happened during that time... weather they had wanted to question her, or verbally torture her... she wouldn't know. When she came back, there was never any new bruises on her, if there were then she couldn't feel it, so she highly doubted it was anything indecent. If it was, she had no memory of it to be upset about.

Sage could barely function enough to notice when they brought her away. Out into the other room where he couldn't follow. But she never seemed to be hurt, which was good. Both of them pretty much just lay around, though, never doing anything. Even eating and drinking was a chore. He'd promised Anya he'd live while she was there, so he would try to eat a bite or two every few days, since he was malnourished before he was kidnapped and would starve in here if he didn't eat something. He was starving anyway, though, and looked pretty much like a living skeleton by now. At this point, even if he wanted to eat, he didn't think he could actually stomach anything solid. They both spent their days laying there, with no energy to do anything. All thoughts of escaping were gone, though surely Anya's mother was still looking for her daughter. Anya just had to stay alive until her mom got there, and could get her back. She had a chance still...he doubted he did, though there was no reason to let Anya know that. But she was there, and when they were laying there, just pressing himself against her helped. He didn't need her to constantly be doing something to help him, just her presence was enough. But he was so worn down that he barely even noticed the shouting that suddenly burst out from the other room. And he definitely didn't dare hope it was Anya's mother or some guards. Though, he'd not be welcomed even if it was them. They could very well kill him themselves. But even that was better than slowly starving in this cramped little room.

Anya would just lay there most days, letting Sage use her as a pillow of sorts. Though, she wouldn't have been as comfortable as she one was. Sometimes they would switch about a little, but she found that everything was a bit better when she held him close. The fear of death, of starving, of never getting to go home again... it all diminished when she was with Sage. But she found that was only because of her final nice memory of him. Wrapped up in each other's arms, warm and safe. It was hard to believe that had been so long ago... and that something so horrible could happen right after something so great. She could hear cuffufle going on in the next room... shouting, yelling... from strangely familiar voices. Voices hadn't headed in weeks... maybe months. She felt herself perk up just a little, though her movements were slow and laboured. She gently poked Sage in the side in an attempt to get him to move from her lap. She wanted to see what was happening... but unfortunately a small crack in the door wasn't quite enough. Anya stood up, something she hadn't done in what felt like forever. Eventually, the voices quietened down, and she saw the door handle wriggle slightly only to be swung open, bright yellow light flooding the room. Someone stood dead in front of the door, but it took a solid few moments for her eyes to slowly adjust, but Anya was fighting not to black out again. The woman stood before her, an older copy of Anya, just stared at her for a moment, like she was trying ti put a name to a face. Anya, however, seemed to know exactly who it was. "M...mother," She crackled, her voice faint from a distinct lack of speech. The woman looked at her, trying to recognise the girl for a moment. "Anya?" She questioned. God, did Anya really look so different? The girl gave a soft nod before the woman walked forwards and tipped a hand under the girls chin. "My girl," she whispered softly, her eyes watering over slightly. Anya gave another small nod before arms were wrapped around her. She felt tears welling in her eyes again, spotting a few guards standing firmly at the door, quite clearly eyeing Sage up. But Anya could deal with that in a moment. For now, she had wrapped her arms as tight as she could around the queen, chanting that she was sorry. Sorry for leaving, and not listening to her mother. The woman shook her head, only holding her tighter as they fell to their knees.

Sage couldn't make out much...he was barely conscious at that point. But Anya was hugging someone. That was a good thing....it was probably her mom. Good, she could go home now. Get some food, and rest, and go about her life again. And he could...what? Go die somewhere? That was something. Though, getting somewhere seemed like a chore. No, he'd die here. The men dragged him here, they could deal with his corpse. He closed his eyes tiredly, willing to let himself slip away, finally. But something deep inside him wouldn't let him just give up. So he stayed there, eyes closed, barely breathing, but still alive. Ugh, why couldn't he just let himself go? What did he always have to schoose the hard thing? He was stubborn...one of his redeeming qualities was never giving up. And something deep inside of him was holding onto that, keeping him rooted there. He was glad Anya had found her mother, though...he couldn't really see much anymore, since his vision was messed up, but they were definitely hugging. Their voices swirled around too, though he knew they were all glad words. He expected no less ... She'd been missing for a while. Thank goodness they found her....he didn't really know why the man had grabbed her, let alone him. He assumed she would be random, but if that were the case, they'd have gotten her much sooner. It was puzzling, and sage was so close to slipping away ... Barely breathing, no longer willing to hold his eyes open, his heart rate slowed. And he was pretty ok with that. But he couldn't figure out anything....Anya had found her mom and was going to be taken care of, and that was good enough for him.

Eventually, they were pulled out of their reunion, by the feeling that Anya would be sick. Obviously, everyone kind of scrambled away from her as she palled. Anya shook her head slightly, still on her knees when her mother offered her a hand again. Anya wiped her cheeks... they could leave. They could leave and go somewhere safe, somewhere warm. The woman gently pulled Anya towards the door, going on about how damn hard they worked to find her, and that she had caused the whole kingdom a lot ton if pain, though, none of that pain was nearly as bad as hers or Sages. Sage. God, she had nearly forgotten about him. She stop dead and looked back at him where he was laying limply. "H...he's coming with us." She said blankly, not really leaving much space to fight. The older woman shook her head. "No, I don't think so." She grunted before continuing out the door. Anya wrinkled her nose wanderer back towards him, leaning over him slightly. She noticed how slow his breathing was... no, he wasn't lucky enough to die just yet. "Sage, do you remember the day we got here?" Probably not. He was barely conscious... it was the same now, only now he needed to listen. "I said to you that when I get out of here you'ee going to come with me. Well... you're coming along now, no matter that my mother happens to say." She whispered to him, taking a gentle hold of his hand. "Are you really going to leave the man that saved your daughters life away?" That was a purely manipulative move... recently, she had been the one saving him, but that didn't mean she cared for him any less. "I think... that if you got to know him you'd like him." She called to the queen, het tone almost begging. The woman returned with a raised brow. "God Anya, if it makes you leave any quicker then so be it." It was clear the woman was apprehensive, and thought that Anya had most likely lost her mind at some point... but she just didn't care. They could sort this out when they were both well again.

Sage could hear her voice, opening his eyes to see her bending over him. He could've really understand her, but he could tell from her tone she wasn't going to just let him lay there and die. Well, he wasn't sure how to respond. He could easily give himself up right then and there... Die in her arms. It would be peaceful, though not for the girl. He sighed, though it was little more than a breath by now, and his fingers twitched in a feeble attempt to squeeze her hand. She was stubborn, but so was he. Though, the queen obviously didn't want him coming with ..she was only doing it because Anya wouldn't leave without him. Why couldn't she just get out of here, forget him? But he was glad that he had someone to help him too...to protect him ..he'd never gotten that before, and he really needed it.

The girl frowned at his feeble attempt to squeeze her hand, letting her fingers close around his hand tighter than before. One of the guards was standing at the door, waiting for some sort of orders. Anya jerked her head towards Sage to which the guard came straight over, slipping a hand underneath the boy and going to pick him up. Sage could stay in Anya's room for a little while if it made him feel safer... the castle was huge, and there were bound to be objections to a simple tavern boy staying. If Sage wanted to leave, back out to the streets, then he could do that, but only once he was fit enough. He could very well hate her for this... but she could deal with that if she didn't have to quite literally see him rotting away. And more than anything, she loved him too much to do that... and she wanted to continue to show him just how much... in more ways than one. They seemed to be walking miles back from everyone else, well, Anya was. Sage was being limply carried along. Eventually, they stopped just outside two carriages... thank god she didn't have to walk the whole thing. She tried to help get Sage into one with her, while her mother had climbed into another. Once comfortable, the girl flopped back on the soft seats, happy for the creature comforts they portrayed. Though, she was finding the quiet a little uncomfortable... she hadn't felt like that in ages, given that they had pretty much been in silence over the last few weeks. So, she tried to make some sort of joke, although she wasn't sure if Sage could hear it. "You know Sage, when you snapped my arm back into place, I wasn't exactly expecting to shout at you like that... I was saving the whole yelling your name thing for something more... exhilarating." Alright, they had gotten out of the worst situation they could imagine, and here she was making crude jokes. She didn't even know if Sage could hear her... he might have passed out again, but her crude little statement made her chuckle, at her joke, which was incredibly sad. She was still exhausted, and any energy she let out, for something as simple as a chuckle was almost painful... really, it was all painful. And Anya just wasn't a particularly crude person... no, she was perfectly polite. It was most likely because she was glad to be out of the darkness... in the fresh air when she could feel a soft breeze on her skin. She could very well be like this for a little while until she had recovered... though, she would deny anything was different. As long as she didn't say anything too out of line, it shouldn't matter, though, not if Sage didn't know what she was saying... he was the only one she worried about saying anything something overly awkward to... though, she was already starting to do that.