I'm BAAAAAAaaaaaackkk!

Now, I know this may sound aggressive, but I really need some reviews on this story. I need some feedback on whether you like the direction this story is going in or not. And, I would just like to know if you have any thoughts.

Now, on with the story!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter 14~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Raine pondered all of this, she heard a slight rustling in the brush behind her. Discounting it as an animal wandering through the forest, she quickly turned her attention elsewhere.

But, she could not have been more wrong. Before she knew it, someone had an arm around her, and their hand clasped over her mouth. And, of course, she had left her staff back at camp. She tried to scream, but it only came out as a muffled cry, swallowed by the stranger's massive hand.

Soon, her vision began to blur. Alarmed, she quickly focused her energy on smelling out a chemical. Yes. She could smell it. It was some substance she had come across a time or two before, but the name had eluded her. She knew she didn't have much time before she would black out. She quickly bit down on her captor's hand, which was met by a howl of pain, and her brief freedom to scream out in terror. But, even as she screamed, she could tell it would not reach the camp. Her only hope was that Kratos had not made his way back to the camp, yet.

And then, everything went black.

When Raine awoke next, she could hear the slight sounds of movement on a wooden floor. Recalling her and her companions were staying outdoors that night, her eyes flew open.

She searched around her, noting she was in a small room. The room was filled with hunting tools. A picture that did not comfort her in the least. She also noticed she was lying on the floor in a sleeping bag.

The half elf began to panic, only feeling the brush of the sleeping bag on her bare body.

Oh God...Was all she could think. This could only mean one thing...she had been raped. And even worse, she had been raped by a hick.

She expected to feel the hot sting of tears forming in her eyes, but she did not. All she could think of was the need to escape. Her crystal eyes searched the room until she spotted her clothes, hanging from a crude hook in the wall.

She slowly slipped her legs out of the sleeping bag, gathereing it around her, and crept across the floor. Remembering someone else was in the house, she walked as quietly as she could until she reached her clothes.

Looking under the door for a few moments to be sure there was no movement outside of it, she quickly slipped into her outfit.

Now that she was clothed, the next pressing matter was how to get out of here. Her eyes searched for some sort of way out. She soon found a window. "Thank God...." she muttered to herself. She began to walk towards it, concentrating on not making a sound.

Suddenly, she heard someone shout, "Where do you think you're goin'?!"

Raine froze in her tracks. Apparently, she had been so focused on getting to the window, she hadn't heard the door open behind her. Slowly, she turned to face the man.

Her captor was a tall man, who looked to be around his 40's. And, he definitely was not what she expected. He had dark, almost black hair, slightly graying in some places. His face was lightly dusted from a slight beard. He wore a pair of jeans, and a plain white shirt. His appearance didn't scream "hick" like his "decor" did. Though, she did notice his hand was bandaged, a red stain appearing.

Raine could only stand and stare for a moment, her eyes widening.

"What's wrong with you? Can't you talk?!" The man sneered at her, obviously taking her silence as a result from fear.

"You!" She finally screeched, racing towards him, fists clenched. She watched as he took a step back, a wary look replacing the smug one that had once been there. It only fueled her as she sped up.

She raised her hand, preparing to strike him, when his hand caught her wrist. Taken aback for a moment, Raine was blinded by the oncoming force of his hand hurtling towards her face. She fell to the floor, a throbbing pain radiating through her cheek.

"How dare you, woman. How dare you try and hit me!"

And then, began the beating. He continued to punch her, and kick her. "Bitch! You don't know who you're messin' with!" He shouted, while she attempted to curl into a protective ball, trying to block the blows from reaching her face. Her vision was foggy, the full effect of the drug having not worn off yet.

Finally, after seemed to be an hour to the half elf, the blows stopped, and then she heard the man laugh, then lean down to her level. She felt his hot breath on her ear as he spoke, "You're pathetic, you know that? I heard such big stories about how the "legendary" Raine could outsmart anyone. If that was true, why are you still stuck here?" He paused for a moment, allowing her to absorb that. She felt him stroke the exposed part of her face. "Oh, Raine. You're useless to me. I thought you would have put up more of a fight, but you didn't. I'm finished with you. Now get out of my house!" He shouted, now pulling her up by her arms, and thrusting her out of the door way. He shoved her until they reached the exit, thrusting her out the door. "Bitch! You had better not tell anyone about this, or I'll find you, and kill you!" He screamed, as he slammed the door in her face.

Raine stood there for a moment, trying to absorb everything that had just happened. She knew this was unwise, that she should be dashing off the man's property, in case he decided at the last minute that he wasn't finished with her. She pondered his last sentence to her. She almost wondered if death would be better than living with the knowledge of what had happened.

She then shrugged the thought of. No. Genis needed her, and she just had to see him again. Slowly, she began to walk away, unsure of which way was right. She wondered what the others thought of her disappearance. She hoped they were searching for her, instead of Kratos assuming her to have gone off on her own to cool off from their heated conversation.

That's when the pain hit her. Every inch of her body seemed to throb with pain as the shock wore off. But, she knew she had to keep going. She trudged on through the forest. As she did, the day's events finally hit her.

It was as if every bit of hope was sucked from her as she thought about the rape. Leaning against a tree, she sank to her knees. Thankfully, she had walked pretty far from her captor's house, so she was out of sight.

She did have one thing to be thankful for: she didn't remember it. Because of the chemical he had used, she was unconscious the entire time. Which, though comforting, it was also alarming. What else could he have done to her?

She couldn't think about that. Not now. She had more important things to do. It was getting dark outside, and Raine knew she had to rest. Not only was her body racked with pain, she was exhauted.

Deciding she could sort things out, and continue her search tomorrow, the half elf leaned her head against the tree trunk, and allowed for her eyes to shut.

The next morning, Raine was awoken by the rustling of leaves. Jerking into a seated position, her eyes searched for any sign of the rapist. But, instead, she found Lloyd's face in front of hers.

At seeing her now open eyes, Lloyd's face lit up. "Hey! Guys! She's awake!"

That's when the silver-haired woman realized she was in a warm sleeping bag, back in the camp with her companions. Did this mean she had dreampt everything? Then why was Lloyd so excited over her waking up.

She then turned her head, and watched as Colette, and Genis raced over to her.

"Sis! Are you okay? You look terrible!" Genis shouted at her.

Raine raised a brow out him, causing her forhead to sting in protest. She ignored it for the moment to answer him. "Thanks, Genis. And yes, I'm fine. Just a little banged up."

Now it was Colette's turn to question. "What happened to you, Professor?"

"I just went for a walk, and I ended up having to fight some guys that showed up. Its no big deal."

"You walked that far?"

Raine turned her head to her right, finding Sheena sitting next to her.

"Uh, well...."

"Well, it does not matter now. We have her back, and that is all that mattered." Raine then turned to find Kratos, who had seemingly just returned to the camp. He met her eyes, and she could see a hint of anger in his eyes. She wondered if he was still upset about her inquiring of Lloyd's heritage.

He then turned to the rest of the group. "Lloyd, why don't you take Genis, Colette, and Sheena to go search the area. We need to get moving to find the next seal."

The brunette boy stared for a moment, then nodded his head. Standing to his feet, he ushered the others to do the same, and walk out of the campsite.

There were a few moments of awkward silence as they waited to be sure that the other three were out of ear shot.

Then, Kratos broke it. "Where were you, Raine."

Raine lifted her gaze to his face. She could tell he didn't believe her previous story, but she had to try and stick to it.

"Like I said, I went for a walk, and I ran into some strange men that I ended up fighting on my own." She could feel her gaze fall away from him.

Damn! She thought to herself. I need to be more convincing. He's not going to believe me if I can't make eye contact with him.

"Raine, don't lie to me. I know you, and I know you what you are capable of. If you had been in a fight, even without your staff, you would not have been so easily overcome."

"Well, that's what happened, and if you don't believe it, then-"

"No!" Raine jumped at hearing the crimson-haired man's raised voice. Her eyes raised to him, as he darted towards her, and knelt in front of her, his piercing gaze almost too much for her.

"Raine, when I found you out in the forest, you had dried blood trailing down your legs. I am not easily fooled, Raine. I know something happened. Now, what was it?"

And that's when Raine could feel the tears stinging at the back of her eyes. She quickly lowered her head, attempting to hide the emotion she knew was written all over her face. "Kratos, please don't...." Was all she could say, and even then, it came out as a choked whisper. She cursed herself for sounding so weak. How could one man have done this to her?

But, then she felt Kratos's hand push a lock of hair behind her ear.

"I don't remember it." She told him, knowing he was aware of her rape. She already knew him to be clever enough to have figured it out at some point or another. She could feel the tears flow freely down her cheeks. She no longer had the energy to fight them. So many emotions ran through her at once; confusion, pain, shame.

But then, Kratos's arms were around her, and for what seemed like the first time in ages, she felt safe. Though, a throbbing ache made itself known at his touch, she allowed herself to lean her head against his chest, and continue to cry. After several minutes, she finally calmed down, Kratos still holding her small frame to him. She could feel as one of his hands stroked her silver hair in a calming manner.

Finally, he spoke, addressing her last statement. "It is best you do not remember. But, you do need time to rest." He pulled back from her, getting a better look at the young woman's face. "We need to be sure you are properly healed before we must continue. Now, Raine, you much lie back." The mercenary instructed as he guided her back down with his arms.

A pressing question crossed Raine's mind then. "Kratos, how long was I away?" She asked, almost afraid of the answer. She had to be sure it was not too long.

"Two weeks." Came his soft reply. Raine could the shock wave over her. That had to have meant more things must had happened to her while she was still unconscious in that horrible man's house.

Though, she willed herself to be strong, and just nod. She then turned on her side, trying to avoid any more of the coversation for the time being.

Weeks had gone by, and Raine had recovered for the most part. She still had some cuts and bruises left to heal, but for the most part, she could travel again.

Though no one had complained while they were immobile, Raine could feel the overwhelming excitement in everyone when she was finally well enough to walk again.

A doctor had looked at her the day after her return to her group, and had stated that, though she had no broken bones, she had a few cracked ribs, and a few cuts she had not noticed before that had needed stitching. Apparently, the kidnapper had decided rough sex was the way to go. Especially when the woman was too drugged to know what was happening.

But, all of that was in the back of her mind. She was all right.

Kratos had agreed to not telling any of the others of her true whereabouts, which made things much easier on the half elf.

As they prepared to find the next seal, the group had decided to find a town close by, and get a decent meal.

They stumbled upon Hima, deciding the village looked well-stocked enough to hold some decent food.

"Hello!" Greeted a young man trailed by a cart full of food.

"Hi!" Colette greeted back.

"What's with all the food?" Lloyd asked, blunt as usual.

Upon the acknowledgement of the food, the man's smile grew wider. "I'm on my way to Luin. There are some people from the ranch that returned there. I wanted to be able to take them some food since they have nothing left there."

Raine, getting a wiff of some of the seafood stocked in the wooden cart could feel her stomach jerk in protest. "Uhhh...." She groaned, earning her curious glances from the other four, as well as the stranger.

"What's wrong, Raine?" Sheena asked the young woman.

"N-nothing. Just, not feeling too well...." Another stream of the odor hit her nose once more, and this time she had to clasp her hands over her mouth to keep from vomiting. She held up a hand, and ran over to a deserted part of the village that met with the surrounding field.

She could feel as the rest of the contents of her stomach fell onto the grass. Once she was finished, she leaned back, allowing for her breath to catch up. This had been happening quite frequently lately.

She had considered one cause for this, but immediately discounted it. She just could not invest herself in that possibility. Enough had happened to her already. She couldn't explore a theory that would cause her anymore distress.

Her thoughts were interrupted as another bout of sickness overcame her. She knew it was futile to ignore the truth. Odds were, her life was about to be changed....