Anya gave a moderate smile, kicking a pebble along as she walked. "Well, if she's anything like me I'd love to meet her," Anya chirped teasingly. She was up to meet anyone - especially if they would get on well. It was clear Sage and his sister were close, and she would hate to drag him out for something as simple as a walk while his sister was at home in a potentially dangerous situation. If she came out then she would probably feel better about it. "It's nice you care about her so much. My cousins would throw me to the curb the first chance they got." She grumbled, rolling her eyes slightly.

Sage snorted. "Well my dad would love to throw me out but he hasn't gotten that lucky yet." He thought for a second. "We can take a detour and go past my house and pick her up. Maybe you two can have fun together at the lake." He glanced over at Anya and looked at her for a moment before looking up at the moon. "My dad likes her, so I don't worry about leaving her home, but she'll want to come with." He chuckled. "She has a lot of energy, that one." He turned down a street and stopped in front of a small, run down log cabin that was really no more than a place to sleep under a roof. Well, part of one...it leaked. "Wait here. And try not to make any loud noises." He slipped off into the shack, sliding in through a hole in part of the roof. He landed quietly and slipped over to where his little sister was curled up and put a hand over her mouth. She opened her eyes and threw her arms around him. "I have someone I want you to meet," his whispered and gestured as he backed up slowly. "Go slow, be quiet." She nodded and tiptoed after him. They were almost to the door when a bottle smashed into the door near his head and when he whirled around his father was there in his face, yelling and brandishing a large knife. "Ok, just get out," he told Lizzie and threw the door open, keeping himself between her and his father. He pointed to Anya and Lizzie ran over to her and grabbed her hand tightly as Sage backed up slowly and wearily. His father watched him for a moment before looking over at Anya and scowling. He started towards them and Sage had his dagger out in a split second and met him halfway to the girls. They exchanged a few blows with the knife before sage sent his father's knife flying. His father threw a lazy punch, which Sage easily dodged. His father staggered back inside and Sage stomped back to the girls, putting his dagger away. Lizzie ran over to him and grabbed his leg, and he picked her up. "Come on, Lizzie. Let's get out of here." He glanced over at Anya and sighed. "Come on. We've been here long enough." He started walking again, shoulders tense and tight, relaxing more as they walked farther away.

Anya stood motionless for a few moments before she followed along a few paces behind, eyes glued to the ground. She replayed what she had just witnessed in her head a few times before glancing between the siblings. Lizzie was so young and for her father to hold her knife to her brother the way he did must have been horrifying, even more so to see her brother have to fight back in such a routine. Anya had only seen a snippet of what happened, and she found it unsettling. Who wouldn't? Even so, it appeared as common practice to Sage. He had acted so quickly to defend himself. He had said his father was a drunk, but she didn't expect violence - not to such an extent at least. He wasn't out just bruse; he was really trying to hurt the boy. Considering he said his father liked his sister, it seemed cruel to act so groundlessly. Anya took a short breath before shaking her head a little, still walking just a few paces behind the pair. Anyone could tell they were somewhat related from miles off. Lizzie looked just like Sage, and the little girl seemed so at ease with him. As she walked, she found herself in a slightly uncomfortable silence. She had an array of questions to spout out at him, though the fear of being insensitive had set in. She wouldn't really know what was going on and coming from someone who hadn't ever been in an even slightly similar situation as them might have seemed slightly belittling.

The silence was thick as they walked down the road and Sage glanced over his shoulder at Anya. "I can hear your unspoken questions from her," he chuckled. "I don't mind if you ask. Really." It was true...he didn't mind. He was used to his father, and used to the crazy stunts he tried to pull. He could tell that Anya had questions she wanted to ask, and that asking them could put her mind more at ease. He slipped through some trees and they emerged from the forest, they came up in the Lakeshore sand. Sage set Lizzie down and she ran off to splash in the water, giggling happily. Sage sighed and sat down under a tree, leaning against the bark. "So. Ask away." He patted the sand next to him, inviting the girl to sit down. They had to talk, he knew that. And he had a feeling he could trust her.

"Well," She murmured quietly as she sat on the ground next to him, tucking her knees up to her chest. "Why does he solely go after you?" Anya started off with a rather simple question. She knew very well there might not be an answer, but it was somewhere to start. She watched Lizzie splashing around, a small smile tugging at her lips before it disappeared again, "And... How long has this been going on? A long while?" She murmured, leaning her head back against the tree. She couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable. She flopped her head to the side, "Has he ever hurt you?" She grumbled, finally laying out her last questions. She was aware of his scars; there was no hiding them. Sage had mentioned he hadn't had it particularly easy on the streets, but the girl wasn't sure if he had gotten them out there or at home. She glanced back out to the river, taking in the scenery. It was gorgeous like he said. She cleared her throat swiftly before striking up another conversation. "Lizzie's adorable," She noted with a slightly awkward chuckle, "She looks just like you."

Sage cracked a grin. "So in 24 hours I've gone from a lowly tavern boy to adorable, is that what you're saying," he teased. Then he sobered up a bit. "Dad wanted a daughter, not a son. That's the main issue. Granted, I'm not the easiest to get along with, but still." He shrugged. "I've lived with it my whole life. He never really liked me. When mom died...that's when he added the alcohol and it got worse." He looked down at the ground and sighed. "There's a reason Im so good at sword fighting. Sure, a lot of the scars are from the streets, and some are from him too." He looked back at Anya and gave her a grim smile. "But a lot of them are from the times I've been arrested or punished by the guards." She hadn't seen his back, which was covered with scars from the many floggings and whippings he had endured from the castle guards, but he figured she would figure out what he meant by punished. He looked back out at Lizzie, who had found a bird and was running around with it, giggling happily. "Lizzie's the reason I've held on this long. If I didn't have to take care of her..." He trailed off, not sure how he was going to finish that. Would he have given up, or would he searched for any reason to stay alive?

"I said she's cute," Anya chuckled, tilting her head towards the girl. Anya found herself lost for what to say next. She pulled out a lot in one go, and now her thoughts had left her and she processed everythinf Sage had said. "Yeah, the guards are all asses." She stated simply. It was true. They even treated her as if she were below them. Though, when she slapped them they couldnt do anything about it. She gently closed her eyes for a moment before glancing at him, "And I'm sorry to hear about your mother. You guys must have really struggled, especially with the way your father is," She murmured softly. His sister was still awfully young, so she couldnt imagine what it was like for her - or either of them really. She swapped her gaze back to the ground quietly she wasn't sure how he was planning to end his sentience, but found herself biting the inside of her lip uncomfortably. "I'm sure she's happy you're still around." She stated simply before looking back out into the river.

Sage sighed and shrugged. "We deal with it. And it's not all bad. Lizzie's happy, so-" he broke of with a screech when Lizzie dumped a bunch of cold lake water over his head. She had snuck up behind him while he was talking. He gasped as the shock of the cold water hit him and reached a finger up to pull his hair out from Infront of his eyes - it was normally wavy, but now that it was soaked it hung down past his nose. He turned around, opening his mouth to say something, but Lizzie ran back towards the lake, laughing histericaly. Sage scrambled to his feet and took off after her, a grin spreading across his face as he chased her, letting himself slow down right before he almost caught her until he grabbed her and lifted her up and spun her around before gently tossing her into the water next to him. She popped up giggling, and sage grinned back at her. She looked over at Anya. "You should invite your girlfriend over!" Sage out his hands up and turned a bright red. 'I- we're not ..she's not my girlfriend," he stammered. Lizzie looked at him for a moment before shrugging and skipping over to Anya and tugging her along to the lake. "Well she should be. I like her." Sage out his hands on his hips and groaned, amused by her words but knowing that would never happen, even if he did somehow fall for the girl.

Anya found herself chortling in amusement as she watched the pair run about. The brightest grin settledon her face a while after she finally stopped, her cheeks lightly flushed a bright pink. The girl relucantly stood up and followed Lizzie a few steps into the lake, before pausing. The water lapped up and around her knees, and while she could enjoy water from a distance, the fact was that Anya was terrified of the stuff, and even more so of not being able to see her legs. As a result, she never really learned to swim. Not properly at least, and while she knew they werent going awfully deep, the throught frightened her. "Lizzie, hunny, I'm not very good with water," she mumbled lightly, her brows slightly furrowed as she took another step in.

Lizzie smiled up at her. "It's ok, Sage's favorite person who isn't me. But would it help if we taught you to swim? Would it be less scary?" Sages face turned a darker shade of red and he glared at his sister. "Liz, stop with that .. I literally met her yesterday!" Lizzie grinned at him. "But you like her." He put his hands on his hips. "She nice. We're slightly friends. If that." Lizzie giggled. "You just don't want to admit it." Sage pinched the brindge of his nose. "please ignore the little gremlin," he muttered to Anya. "But...if it would help then we could help you with swimming if you wanted it." He shrugged. "You don't have to though." He knew he was strong enough to support her weight if she needed it...carrying trays and stuff around a tavern helped him there.