welcome to the first chapter of Broken. for those who don't know, this can be considered a sequel to Rejected but I've made it so you by no means have to read that one (its not nearly as well done as this). I've made quite a few changes since Rejected and I'm hoping they're all for the better. please enjoy and I'm looking forward to any and all feedback.

She felt the pounding headache before anything, a slow, pulsating pain in the front of her skull. With a groan, the Breton Willow of Honorhall sat up and opened her eyes. She looked around the cramped makeshift tent while blinking the last bit of sleep from her eyes.

Several thoughts ran through her head at once, where am I? How did I get here? She brought her hand to massage her head, and why does my head hurt so much? She clutched at her chest suddenly, remembering the arrow that bored into it the night before. Confusion ran through her mind when there was no mark or scarring, she wasn't sure where exactly it hit but it hit hard and even magic shouldn't have been able to prevent such a deep wound from scarring. With a sigh she wrapped the blanket around herself and crawled from the tent

The midday sun sent a new wave of pain through her skull and she struggled to shield her eyes with one hand while holding the blanket up with the other. "I thought I heard you moving around in there. Good morning." she looked at who spoke, her heart skipped a beat when she saw him sitting there.

Even if she couldn't quite make out his eyes, thanks to a hood casting a dark shadow over them, she could never forget that warm smile and that gentle voice. "It's a relief to see you're alright" The Nord Sage of Honorhall, her childhood friend and gifted wizard, stood up, clearly moving to hug her only to be taken to the ground when she half hugged half tackled him. The blanket only barely covering her now

"I was so worried! The last I saw you, those bastards left you out to burn!" she couldn't contain the excitement in her voice nor keep it from lighting up her face. It took her a moment to notice the flush creeping on his cheeks and the heart pounding in his chest. "You're not a vampire anymore!" she couldn't believe it, he'd somehow found a way to cure himself in so short a time.

"I-I" a voice cleared its throat. "I don't mean to ruin the reunion but you're not wholly covered back here. Not that I mind or anything" The familiar deep voice drew her attention behind her where Elijah the forsworn was seated on a log wearing a curious smirk and motioning at her backside that peaked through the blanket.

She rolled off Sage in an instant, blushing furiously while fixing the blanket to cover everything properly. "I-I didn't see you Eli…" she mumbled while Sage, hiding his own blush, glared daggers at Eli who only shrugged and continued poking at the fire that sat in front of him. "So, what happened then? After I was…" she didn't know how to finish the sentence, the memory of her kidnapping and Sage's subsequent death sentence made her throat tighten.

Sage coughed expectantly at Eli who sighed heavily before standing "guess I'll go get some clothes for ya" He mumbled while walking off. Once he was out of earshot Sage let out relieved sigh "Don't like him do you?" Willow said, stifling a chuckle. Sage just shook his head "He creeps me out a bit but he said he saved you, is that true?" he looked at her with worry, earning a heavy sigh

"Unfortunately yes… those bandits knocked me out soon after I saw them do the same to you. I woke up tied to a bunch of others inside a caged wagon; I assumed I was already sold at that point." She heard Sage give a low grumble, obviously upset "bastards sure acted quickly." his voice had a dangerous edge but she continued. "I was sold to some kind of fighting ring where I-… I was forced into killing a man" Sage said something but she didn't hear him, the memory taking hold. "I burned him alive…" her hands subconsciously brushed against her lips.

She knew she had to, in the moment the only choice was to let him crush her windpipe or to stop him. So I stopped him. She couldn't understand why her hands still shook so much whenever she thought of it. She flinched when Sage brushed her side, startled at first but leaned in a second later. "It was "against the rules" apparently" he chuckled at her air quotes, an obvious attempt to lighten the mood but he didn't interupt and she wasn't going to complain.

"But it was very theatrical and the crowd loved it" she continued "so I wasn't punished, instead I was moved to a bigger arena, they said it was specifically meant for duals using magic. I was there for only two or three days before Elijah and his people attacked the place and liberated everyone there." She skipped over the fights she had in that place as well as what happened with the man that controlled her collar. She didn't want to admit how afraid she was in the ring… or how good it felt to kill the man that tried to beat her into submission.

"After that I was brought to Elijah's camp where he healed my wounds and gave me some food and clothing. Soon after he brought me hunting to stretch my legs and that's when I heard your voice. Right before…." she clutched her chest without thinking, unsure how to finish.

"That's why you were dressed like the forsworn…" Sage lowered his head and she tried to gauge his reaction only to find the shadow covering his eyes didn't falter or lessen, she knew illusion magic when she saw it.

She grabbed the hood over his head, assuming that was the source of the illusion. She couldn't stop the gasp from escaping nor could she help but stare at his eyes. Even with the sun shining brightly she could see his eyes glow a vibrant blue. "Well that's new." She gawked until he finally looked away, embarrassed at the attention.

She knew his eyes were special from the beginning but they never did glow like that. She knew before when he saw a spell cast somehow he could understand it and mimic it perfectly. That paired with his unusual large pool of magicka made him stronger than any wizards his own age. She wondered what changed to make them glow so brightly. "I think it's your turn to explain" Willow stated, shifting her weight so that she could look directly at him.

He squirmed under her intense gaze but only slightly "Well, as you guessed I'm not a vampire anymore. Turns out the little girl who found me was the ward of a powerful wizard in Morthal, he cured me shortly after." He chuckled "I honestly couldn't believe my luck; I almost convinced myself the Aedra were getting involved in some round about way." He looked up to the sky thoughtfully, she wanted to ask what he was thinking about but he continued before she had the chance.

"Falion, the wizard, said that Solitude would be my best bet to finding information on criminals and slavers." She thought she saw his left eye twitch ever so slightly but figured it was just a trick of the light. She couldn't know about the mad voice in his head that called itself "Vorohah", the price for his magical skills, and how it told him to head for solitude.

"From there I uh…" he paused as if trying to think of the right words to use. How could he tell her he was led to the blue castle and convinced to trespass further into the Pelagius Wing by the voice that led him there? Vorohah did all that just so Sage could meet his father, the source of his magical gift and the root of the voice constantly seeking his own madness, the mad-god, Sheogorath.

Willow felt something was wrong with his pause, but she just thought it had to do with the shock of her near death experience. She had no idea that the reason his eyes were glowing was because he had tried to get the mad god to take his gift back, to take the voice out of his head.

It was the mad gods twisted way of punishing him that made his ability so much stronger, to the point that he could now see the light blue glow of magicka that all things possessed. It was also the reason Vorohah had an undetermined amount of control over his thoughts. On what felt like a whim Vorohah gave him Willows location south of Dragons Bridge.

"I acquired information about a slave trading base south of Dragons Bridge, so I didn't waste time and headed there. I wasn't too far from there when I met Aela." She narrowed her eyes at him, noticing his left eye twitch again. "Met her?" she asked, her voice stern. "… Well more she met me… or rather she tried to hunt me in her wolf form, but I stopped her before it could get serious!" he added the last part quickly to try and negate the anger building in her eyes. "So what happened with this… Aela women" her voice held an edge he had yet to hear.

"Well I brought her back to her camp" he motioned towards a more heavily wooded area. "That's where we heard what we thought were forsworn barbarians, Aela already loosed the arrow before I knew it was you…" he looked away from her, the emotion in his voice hinted to what may have happened after she dropped.

She placed her hand on his, gripping it tightly "You couldn't have known, what happened wasn't your fault. But you saved me! and I'm sure it only took a bit of help from Eli's healing magic." she tried to tease with a wink but the despair in his eyes only widened.

He whipped his head away from her, refusing to meet her gaze. "W-what aren't you telling me?" she couldn't keep the hint of fear from her voice. He stayed silent, keeping his eyes down.

"If you don't tell her I will." A Nordic accent rang out and Willow looked back to see a tall, slender redhead looking down at them with steely eyes. "I take it you're Aela" Willows voice was firm and clipped; she did not want to be this close to the women who put an arrow in her chest. That was the only reason she told herself even as she felt her stomach twist and a thought came to her mind. I don't care if Sage carried you back, even if you were naked...

"Spare me the show of anger, I was the reason you were shot in the heart" she stated bluntly. Willow bristled, but Aela only raised a hand to stop her from interrupting. "But I'm also the reason you're still here at all."

She left out the part where Sage almost killed them all because he thought Willow couldn't be saved. "Tell her. now." She glared down at Sage but Willow spoke first "I got shot in the heart? But there's no way you or Eli could hope to heal a wound like… that…" she trailed off, starting to puzzle it together on her own.

"Thats's true, it would take a certain mastery over restoration magic to heal a shot to the heart. We couldn't help you but she could" he motion to the women who was now roasting meat over the fire on a stick. "She gave you her blood and you… changed" he struggled to find the right word but she could barely hear him at that point.

"That isn't possible... I would be able to tell if I was a lycanthrope!" her voice rose a level "Enhanced sense of sight, smell and touch; I would be overwhelmed by all of them!" her voice rose again when she heard the guilt in his voice and the sorrow in his eyes.

"You can thank your friend's monstrous power, separating the beast from our spirits." There was clear anger in Aela's voice and Willow could see Sage stiffen at her choice of words. "I-I don't do that… I just soothe the raging torrent of magicka, calming it down. It's still there. It's just sleeping" he spoke quietly, the guilt palpable on his voice "I didn't mean to go so far…" Willow wanted to defend his explanation, but she couldn't form any words.

Aela on the other hand seemed to have no problem expressing her anger. "Oh, didn't mean to go so far did you? Are you talking about when you tore the transitioned flesh from my body? Or is it when Willow almost ripped us to pieces because I found out I couldn't transform into a wolf; and you went crazy!" "I wasn't that bad…" Sage said, trying to defend himself. "You broke three of my ribs!" Aela responded furiously.

"Enough!" Willow yelled out, making Sage jump and even earning a shocked look from Aela who clearly was not expecting her to produce such power from her voice. "Sage?" Willow spoke firmly while placing her hand on his chin, encouraging eye contact "Tell me exactly what happened last night. Starting the moment I hit the ground." Sage stared back, nodding and clearing his throat. "I'd get comfortable; it's not a short story."

And so ends the first chapter in broken, as some can guess this chapter is reviewing the events of Willow and Sage's past, primarily the time my lovely pair have spent separate. It also serves to get everyone caught up on the major details from Rejected so like i said earlier reading that fan fiction is not a must. If there are any points that I've missed or what-have-you I ask you to worry not, everything will be explained as it comes.

That being said I of course encourage you to tell me about any problems you may come across. It may be something I've missed and I will do my absolute best to explain and/or correct it as needed. I'm planning on having another chapter ready within a week of this one being released but probably sooner so I hope to see you there. Good day and night, whichever applies best.

The Amateur

Alno