A/N: Mildly revised due a missing, but important post.

The city was a wreck, barely worth visiting, but it did have a small, mostly untouched hotel on the outskirts that had survived via virtue of being built into a hillside. It was some kind of mining attraction, and a small stream ran through the back which visitors were supposed to pan for minerals from. Ragna panned, alright, but the precious minerals he threw away and the water he boiled over a small pot of water, more interested in that than miniscule amounts of gold dust.

"Not the best setup in the world but it'll do." he sighs, and glances over at his two companions. The brunette he'd made a makeshift cot for out of the decorative hammocks that hung about the place, if for nothing else than to help relieve her headache. "This hill high enough to take us out of the seithr, or do we need to keep moving after this? Either way, I need to find out exactly where this is. If I can find a topographical map of some sort I can make an educated guess at least."

Shrugging, Bullet took a look around, trying to find some sort of tourist map to find out where they were.
Obviously, the place hadn`t been used in ages, and it was kind of creepy to look at- this must`ve been the kind of feeling people got from places like Pripyat and Fukushima two centuries ago.
"I`ve got nothing. Somewhere in Japan, presumeably... on the main island, i didn´t see any oceans or anything earlier." Taking one of the dusty chairs that was half destroyed by decay, Bullet finally took the opportunity to sit down in the restaurant area of the hotel, looking over the menu that was served a century ago.
"...geez they were overpriced back in the day."

Caelica, still resting, stared at the ceiling, unsure what to do at this point. She was useless until she got rid of this headache- that she decided on.

Ragna winces at the creak of the chair as the woman takes it as a seat. "I think everything here is past its expiration date anyways, lady, so I wouldn't worry about prices." he notes. "Anyways. Put it off long enough."

He sighs and leans back against a wooden column, twitching as the head of a nail pokes him slightly through the coat. Crappy carpentry. "Didn't make a big deal about it earlier, but I am Ragna. Sorry for not pointing that out earlier, but things were busy at the time. Way I see it, something hurled us here out in the middle of fucking nowhere, and who knows what kind of angry violent things are out there trying to eat me. So if you could hang out at least until I manage to hit civilization, I'd appreciate that, since it looks like you can hold your own."

That was about as non-offensively as he could phrase it - normally he wouldn't be so gracious, but if the girl went off on her own the seithr would kill her in hours. He could sacrifice a little pride to save a life.

Bullet sighed, leaning back a bit, ignoring the warning signs the chair was giving her. It only had to last a few minutes- and if it would break, there`d be others.
"So you are as stupid as you look- giving off your true identity like that. Well... i could quit my job and move to Ookoto if i would just knock you out and deliver you to the nearest NOL branch once you go to sleep, but.." The mercenary groaned slightly, closing her eyes in dismay. "That would be a shitty way to treat someone who helps a girl he`s never met and guides a gun-for-hire out of a maneating forest."
Maybe she was too nice on him, but he didn`t seem like a bad guy. And she hardly doubted the NOL even had the funds to pay her the reward money they offered for Ragna´s capture.

"Ookoto sucks. The trains are all overcrowded, littering is punishable by jailtime, and there's an automatic draft law that keeps you rotating into the military every two of five years until you're fifty." Ragna says with a frown. Then he winces and scratches at his head. "That . . . last bit may partially be my fault though. Anyways, thanks for not punching me in the head and throwing me in a sack. It'd ruin my feng shui."

He ambles over to the resturant bar and hops over, inspecting the kitchen carefully, until he manages to find a gas stove and lights it up. "Gimme five, I'll have some jerky refried." the Reaper calls with a shrug. "Not the most delicious thing in the world, but it's food, ain't it?"

As he lays out strips of salted meat on a still-intact saucepan and sets it over the lit eye, he glances back curiously at Bullet. "So what do you actually do? I mean, bounty hunting obviously, but I can't exactly inspect the employment boards whenever I make a visit to town."

Crossing her legs over, she eyed him go to the kitchen and starting to cook something like it was natural- in fact, it seemed like it was natural for him.
Swinging a frying pan like it was one of his limbs... certainly not what she expected the legendary outlaw and murderer of thousands to be like.
"I get rid of the people rich old people don´t like... sometimes, when money is tight, i take up being a vigilante and take in some small criminals, other times i get hired to be part of a private army that keeps the NOL away from the corrupt scumbags of the world."
Her eyes narrowed, thinking about her current mission.
"Right now though, my job seems almost impossible to do... taking out the Blood Prince of Sector Seven, Azreal, just isn´t going to happen unless he accidently kills himself for me."

"Haven't heard of him, but Fuzzbutt's tightmouthed when it comes to her precious Sector." Ragna says idly, digging out a packet of honey and liberally slathering it over the jerky, attempting to make it even marginally more palatable. "Sounds like an upright motherfucker though. Hire a sniper, take him out from three hundred meters away. Why complicate things?"

He flips up the jerky a moment later and spreads them on the ancient plates in the cabinet above, then uses the already heated saucepan to boil water from the faucet. "But that sounds like you have to suck up a lot. Doesn't that piss you off? I can't stand doing that, honestly."

"I think the term 'crazy psychopatic sadist' fits the discription, but unlike Terumi, he just beats his victims to a pulp... ususally." Bullet crossed her arms, sighing downwards. "Haven´t had the pleasure to meet him yet. And... sucking up is part of the job, i suppose, but you have that with just about any job. Just in different shape or form. If i´d be a secretary, i would have to suck up the comments of some perverted fourty-something virgin thats above my paygrade."
She grimaced slightly as she realized the pun of her sentence.
"Your job involves that too- you have to suck up being disliked by 90% of the goverment and 50% of the common folk."

Slowly, Caelica shifted around in the hammock Ragna put up, trying to get back on her feet and finally doing something useful- only to realize it was hard enough to keep balance as it was.
In the end of the story, the hammock flipped, and the young witch landed on her bum.
"Youtch... curses."

Ragna pauses in his culinary attempts to take in Bullet, then cracks a grin. "Yeah, you fit behind a desk about as well as Arakune does, presumin' you're familiar with him. He's that gooey black thing that eats whatever he can catch in Kagetsuchi whole. Used to be a part of Sector Seven too, from what I hear. I'm guessing he stuck his fingers in something that took exception to being poked at." He frowns. "Which makes me wonder why anyone takes up with that group. Their employees are all nuts."

The Reaper shrugs and carries a plateful of the honey-glazed jerky over to the table Bullet's commandeered. "Anyways, I actually get a pretty fair reception in Kagetsuchi, once the NOL fucks aren't present anymore. Ikaruga's got a lot of reasons to dislike them, and the more troopers I put down, the less are standing around occupying 'pacified' territory and patrolling for Ars-capable citizens to test and conscript." A shrug. "Though, yeah, Tenshin thinks I'm a piece of shit. More personal dislike than anything. But then the last time I visited I brought a Kaka to his manor's kitchens. That didn't end well. So I can see where he's coming from."

Ragna ambles over to the brunette and crouches, turning her head up and peering into her eyes with care. "Hold on, I'm gonna check you for concussions. You split a damn rock with your head. I'm impressed, but that's not a thing you want to repeat anytime soon."

Caelica blinked in suprise, while Bullet gave him a simple thanks for the effort he put into this.
"I... i split a rock? With my head? ...stop joking, please, my headache was bad enough as it was..."
She rubbed the back of her head, which made brief contact with the ground during her fall out of the hammock.
"Or more like, it IS bad enough. Ow."
Her ruby eyes stared into his, unable to loose herself from him again. It was Ragna. THE Ragna. That Ragna that saved her life, countless of times... though he looked different than he used to.
"Ragna...? Why are you.. here? And for that matter, why am I here?"

"Where the hell did you think your headache came from?" Ragna snarks, peering at the lady's pupils. They aren't dilated, which means she's neither in shock or concussed, both good signs. They track his own deftly. "Sorry, but it wasn't a party night, the alcohol is all long gone."

He releases her head and stands, offering a hand up. "Can't answer either of those - I don't know. Best I can figure it, Terumi did something shitty again. My life's easier when I blame everything on him. Plus, usually accurate." Ragna raises an eyebrow. "You know me already, at least. Can't say I know you though. Can I get an introduction?"

Caelica blinked twice, then a third time.
Reaching up to his spiky strands of hair, she fondled his head, trying to find a bump or any indication that he got hit there as well.
"Did you bonk your head against a rock, too? Don´t tell me you don´t remember me~"
As she found nothing, she sighed a bit, but then smiled sincerely, as bright and honest as a human possibly could.
"I`m Caelica A. Mercury... we were travelling with Mitsuyoshi and the others? Dark War? Black Beast? Does anything ring a bell at all? Its probably been a very, very long time... but you gotta remember!"

Bullet looked over to the two, raising an eyebrow during her meal.
Snickering a bit about how she treated a dangerous renegade, a smirk crossed her face.
"Well, safe to say you look good for being over a hundred years old."

Ragna twitches back, a little unnerved from the uncalled-for affection. "Uh - no?" he says. "Look, I think you're a bit mixed up. Yeah, this is Bloodedge's coat and sword, but Jubei gave 'em to me when I started running aroun -"

He pauses. The name clicks in his brain against an old, old memory, and the reason he'd started his lone crusade in the first place.

"Oh." he says, dumbly. "Oh, shit. Oh, shit."

Ragna's palm connects with his face loudly. A moment later he exhales and drops his hand, revealing a red mark on his face where it'd connected. "You know what, for all I understand, it might well be true at this point." he says heavily, and offers a nod to Caelica - his mother, or near enough to be the same thing. "Nice to see you again then. At some point we need to compare timelines. I don't think they're going to match up."

The Reaper about-faces and drops into a chair hard enough that one leg pops audibly, a support giving beneath the bulk. He doesn't even spare a glance. "First. Food. I ain't dealing with this on an empty stomach."

Gods damn it. His mother, of all things.

Fuck you, Terumi.

Caelica blinked again, seeing Ragna`s less than welcome, but still not that uninviting welcome.
As far as she could tell, he remembered her, but... something must`ve happened to him.
"All i know is that this woman named Kokonoe, who claims to be my neice, brought me "back from the Dark War" to help fight Terumi... and then there`s that blinding light and i end up connecting with a rock."
Anyone else would sigh and break down, but she shrugged.
"I`m used to crazier things at this point... at least the Black Beast is gone."

Bullet didn`t even listen anymore- halfway through the conversation she lost track and decided to stop caring. This wasn`t her business, afterall... she had just gotten to know Ragna, no need to know about his family and friends yet.
"...its damn good food, considering how old it is." She commented, half-pointing at her dish. "Or its just the cook that made it this good."

Fuck you too, Koko Puffs.

"Can't say I'm not used to them either." Ragna grumbles, and gestures at the table. "Grab something to eat, and let's try to figure out what we're doing next. And, uh, thanks, Bullet."

He scratches his head disconsolately and then takes a vicious bite of the jerky, immature fangs shredding the meat with ease; one of the benefits Rachel's bite had left him with. "So far we seem to be way off the beaten track. The Citrine Forest is due south of Wadatsumi about two days of travel; the only thing out here is an old abandoned Sector Seven base hidden in these ruins. I vote we hit it up for supplies then make tracks for Wadatsumi, where Kokonoe has her HQ. She can get us situated."

The Reaper frowns. "I dunno about the rest of you, but my memory is still junk. I can't remember much of what should be the last week or so, and that smacks of magic fiddling. I don't know anything with the mojo to do that to me either. That's not reassuring."

Bullet growled a bit as he mentioned their best chance was a Sector Seven base. She didn´t want to get involved with anything they`re related to, but... their situation asked for extreme measures like these.
"I`m missing a few days, but thats not too uncommon when you work with roughnecked mercenaries who drink more whiskey than water."
She crossed her arms, leaning back a bit. "But i would say we head there tomorrow. We`ve gotten this far, this hotel should be cozy and safe enough for just one night... who knows if we can sleep there."

Caelica, already eating Ragna`s cooking with delight, nodded.
Sleep was good. But right now she was just in a bliss- this WAS the Ragna she remembered, afterall. This godlike skill he posessed even came though with something so simple.

"Right, right." Ragna mutters, standing up and cracking his neck to the side. He grabs the used dishes and, after a confused glance around, dumps them in the sink with a scowl. "Sure as hell not coming back so no need to wash." he says, staring fixedly at the sink. "I totally do not need to wash dishes. Really."

A pause.

"Goddammit." Ragna sighs in defeat, and cranks the sink handle. Nothing happens, and he lets out a crow of delight before meandering over to a corner filled with sacks, which he kicks into a rough pile with a victorious smirk on his face. "Nothing doing if the water doesn't run." he notes, pleased. "I'm going to grab some sleep before we set out again. Caelica, try to stay awake as long as you can, no offense - I don't know if you're concussed or not. Sleeping is probably a bad idea in your condition."

Caelica snorted slightly, then sat down and crossed her legs.
Being out like a light for all the time she`s spent being with them, she wasn`t feeling tired at all.
"I`ve been basically sleeping for the last few hours anyway, so i can do this. Get some good rest, Ragna."

Bullet yawned lightly, tossing the empty plate at the kitchen wall for the heck of it, nodded in agreement.
"Sleep sounds good. Walking around all day makes my legs hurt, too. Dibs on the penthouse suite, Ragna!"
She grinned widely, but then, after pushing the elevator button, realized it didn´t work anymore and she would have to climb the staircase all the way up to get to the penthouses.
"Ugh."

Ragna coughs a laugh at Bullet's misfortune. "If you want to go ahead and climb those stairs, be my guest. It'd be a nice way to work up a sweat for bed. If not, well, here." The Reaper pulls off his heavy signature coat and slings it over the top of a nearby chair, reclining back onto his sack mattress afterwards. "It's comfy enough to sleep in; I've done that enough, certainly. Might want to dust it off though."

He sighs and folds his hands behind his head, closing his eyes. "Either way, see you in the morning."