"Miss Clara, are you sure you're ready to get up? I can try to make you something myself… even if I can't taste it to check if it's ready," Reiya offered as she helped Clara put on her clothes.

"I'm alright now. Plus, I heard moving around helps reduce soreness," Clara responded. She paused for a second and rubbed the back of her neck. "And… you did save my life. So if you have anything you want me to make I'll be glad to do so."

"Well, there was something I needed your help with. I found you because I asked for help from Wolfy. He said his stomach burned a lot and he was hungry, but then he got really hurt and died," Reiya explained.

… huh? Wait, was he the wolf we fought a couple of days ago? Maybe the wolf ears weren't a trick of the light?

"Wait, did you eat the wolf we fought back then?" Clara perked up, tying her hair together.

"Yep! Was… was I not supposed to?" Reiya asked with a hint of guilt on her face.

"What? No no no!" Clara quickly shook her head, wincing a bit as pain shot through her neck. "I was just worried that it might poison you… or something. I mean, the wolf didn't seem ok when he was alive."

"Yeah. He said it hurt a lot to move. But when I couldn't find you he made my nose stronger and I was able to smell you from a mile away!" Reiya finished explaining and smiled.

"Oh, I see… did I smell good?" Clara inquired.

"No," Reiya replied without hesitation.

"O-oh…" Clara recoiled from the quick answer.

"You smelled like garbage and corpses and blood," Reiya continued relentlessly. "I felt like I was chasing a wall of rotten flesh."

"Oh…" Clara mumbled, slumping on the bed.

"W-w-well everything worked out in a way, right? If your smell was weaker, I wouldn't have found you!" Reiya sputtered out, trying to cheer her friend up.

"I guess," Clara muttered, letting out a sigh.

"So Wolfy let me borrow his smelling powers and said I can keep them, but I must do him a favor to let him find inner peace."

"Huh… well, let's see what we can do."

==}—

A loud growl was heard inside the kitchen, followed by several clanging noises of tools. Inside, Clara was quickly rushing between different stations, picking up food and tossing it onto a different station, then putting it into a pot and tossing it to the ground. Almost instantly a pale blue wolf thrusted its face into the pot, gobbling up the contents inside.

Within just a few seconds, the entire pot was licked clean, and the wolf was staring at Clara again with blood red eyes, wagging its tail.

"Reiya! This is the 6th pot! How much more can you eat?!" Clara exclaimed, chopping a piece of meat into sloppy cubes as fast as she could. Reiya didn't answer, instead she simply sat there and stared at Clara silently, watching the girl work.

My arms are getting tired. And they were already sore before! Clara cried out internally, moving her float knife to another station to chop some onions.

As soon as she finished, she quickly grabbed the blender that was making a cold smoothie and dumped its contents into a plate as well, which Reiya quickly gobbled up, licking the edge of her mouth in satisfaction, getting back in position to await another portion.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! HOW MUCH DOES A WOLF IN THIS WORLD EAT?!

Finally, after almost 8 pots of food and 20 freezing cold smoothies, the wolf stopped eating and looked up from the plate before it. Clara glanced down at the wolf and held her breath, waiting for Reiolf (The nickname Clara gave to Reiya Wolf) to make a move.

Reiolf looked up at Clara and smiled, growling something to her, and then a bright light surrounded Reiolf. Soon, the light dissipated, and Clara saw Reiya, back in her somewhat normal form, laying on her back and clutching her stomach. A small streak of light blue hair appeared and Reiya's skin looked a bit more solid than before.

"Hey Reiya… how are you feeling?" Clara asked, brushing some of Reiya's hair away from her face. Reiya didn't move, her only response was a low groan. She barely had time to take a breath before the girl grabbed a nearby empty pot and emptied her stomach into it. Clara held Reiya's hair out of the way and patted the girl on the back.

"Well… look on the bright side! Your food level rose quite a bit," Clara mumbled, trying to make the ghost girl feel better. "Do you… feel any different?"

"A bit," Reiya gasped out as she finished emptying her insides. "I can smell things that I don't want to right now."

Clara helped Reiya get up and tossed the pot away, helping the girl out of the door.

"Do you want an SP potion?"

"I wanna take a shower and lay down for a while," Reiya whined.

"Alright, let's do that then," Clara agreed, leading the two away from the kitchen.

That cleanup is gonna take so long later.

==}—

"Phew, this one smells so nice," Reiya said, rubbing some shampoo into her hair. Clara smiled as she picked one off of the shelves for herself and reached for her hair. However, her eyebrows furrowed when her hand was met with nothing but air. She reached again and again until she grasped the ends of her hair just above her neck.

EH?! What happened to my ha- oh right. Wait, why is all of my hair cut evenly? I couldn't have hacked away at it all perfectly.

Clara quickly ran up to a mirror and her eyes widened in surprise. Her hair was neatly cut and clean, completely free from any blood or dirt from before.

Did Laura wash and cut my hair?

"Is everything alright, Miss Clara?" Reiya asked, rising out of the bath.

"I… yeah, it's fine," Clara mumbled, sitting down on the edge of the bath.

"Alright. Let me know if you need any he-oooh! What's this?!" Reiya exclaimed, picking up a round smooth object with a logo cut into its surface. She tossed it into the bath and it began to dissolve in the water.

While Reiya jumped after the soap, Clara reached for the bandages on her legs and began to untie them. The bandages came off, revealing the scars that they hid. Her legs were covered in bite marks, and lots of burns and scratch scars as well. The cursed burns didn't seem to get better either.

Dang it! And those were really close to healing too!

Clara sighed and gently brushed her fingers along the damaged skin, shuddering at the sensation.

This is my body now. I wonder if some advanced healing magic or potion can make these scars disappear.

Clara sighed and began to unwrap the bandages on her torso and arms until she was left with just her left arm. She untied the knot and paused for a moment.

Surely the damage isn't that bad, right? I mean, the shield did burn me and then exploded, but it was healed. Right? I shouldn't be nervous, it can't be worse than the burns anyway.

Clara took a deep breath and quickly pulled off the bandages. However, she wasn't mentally prepared for what she saw.

The skin where the shield used to be was an ugly bloody red, and pools of dried up, yellowish pus and plasma lay mixed throughout, along with scattered blisters. She could barely make out a clump of newly regenerated pink flesh peeking out, covered in dried blood. Her arm itself looked like something had taken a meaty chunk out of it, and forcefully ripped her skin off and pasted it back in place.

Clara's hands shook and her breathing grew ragged. She brushed her trembling fingers over the burnt area, but to her horror, she didn't feel her touch at all. She brushed her hand across the burned arm and realized that she couldn't feel any of it. The top of her arm from her elbow to the wrist were completely numb, and Clara could have sworn she could feel the bone underneath.

H-holy sh-sh*t. I-is this m-my arm?! It's hideous!

Clara's stomach churned and she felt like she was about to vomit. Her entire body trembled and she could feel tears well up in her eyes.

"Miss Clara, don't look!" Clara heard Reiya yell, right before her head was pushed upwards. Clara let out a yelp and fell onto the floor, with Reiya losing her balance and falling towards Clara. Just before she crashed into the girl, she managed to push her hands forward and stop herself from falling further.

"R-Reiya?" Clara wheezed out as her green eyes met with ruby ones just a few inches away, a small blush appearing on her face. Reiya didn't seem to notice and pushed herself away, quickly grabbing the cleanest bandages in the pile, before returning to a stunned Clara.

"Sorry, I didn't warn you. Big Sister Laura told me that it could come as a shock the first time," she apologized, gently lifting Clara's injured arm and wrapping the bandages around the burns. "She wanted you to recover a bit more before you saw this."

Clara's breathing began to even out as she saw Reiya's hands quickly move around her arm, covering her burned flesh in only a matter of seconds. Before she could even finish calming down, Reiya was already done tying the bandages together.

"There! We should get new bandages after the bath, but this should probably stay on for now," Reiya said, lightly tapping the arm. She looked up at Clara and gently wiped away a tear from the girl's cheek. "Are you feeling better?"

Clara began to sputter something out before she covered her face with her hands and turned away, muttering a 'thanks'. She couldn't bring herself to face the girl. This was now twice just this day that she had seen her cry.

Why do I keep doing that? What kind of a hero keeps crying?

Reiya put her hand on Clara's shoulder, but the girl didn't seem to mind. In fact the trembling seemed to lessen a bit. Reiya moved closer and wrapped her hands around Clara, holding the girl closely. Clara's body began to calm down, her breathing returning to normal. She put her hands on Reiya's arms and squeezed lightly.

"Sorry you have to see me like this," she mumbled.

"Don't be sorry! Everybody has days when they are overwhelmed. I'll always be there to help you calm down. That's what friends are for, right?" Reiya said, leaning on Clara. The girl smiled and reached over to pet Reiya's head.

"Thank you," Clara whispered, wiping away her tears.

"Miss Clara, I can still smell better than before. Can we take a bath quickly please?" Reiya remarked.

"Oh… right. Can you help me with my back, please? I don't think I can reach it by myself," Clara asked, looking down at the ground, her cheeks turning red. Reiya didn't seem to notice and simply smiled.

"Of course!"

==}—

"Phew, finally! We finished with the cleanup. Thanks so much for the help, Reiya," Clara said as she put the last pot into its place and let out a sigh of relief.

"Of course! It's getting dark though. Shouldn't we be going to sleep now? The wave is tomorrow and you look like you could use some sleep," Reiya pointed out, walking Clara back to her room.

Before Clara could even say anything, Reiya pulled out a bunch of clean bandages and bottles of holy water.

"Sit down and roll up your sleeve. I'm going to change your bandages," Reiya commanded, grabbing Clara's injured and bandaged arm. Despite how quick she pulled, there wasn't any pain. Reiya's hands were soft and warm as she carefully yet quickly began to unwrap the bandages. Clara turned away before the burned flesh was exposed and instead opted to look out the window.

"Reiya… why are you helping me so much? I'm thankful, I really am. But we haven't even known each other for that long," Clara asked in a quiet voice.

"Miss Clara…" Reiya began, pausing for a moment. After a few seconds of silence, Reiya took a deep breath and continued. "Remember how we first met?"

"Um… during the wave?" Clara guessed, but Reiya shook her head.

"No. When we first talked to each other," Reiya corrected her.

"When I gave you a sandwich?" Clara answered and Reiya nodded.

"Back in my world, humans would hunt us down. Even when we didn't do anything. They wanted exp, and we had it," Reiya started explaining as she dipped some fresh bandages into holy water. "Every human tried to attack us on sight. But you were different."

Clara winced as Reiya applied the drenched bandage onto Clara's burned arm, black smoke pouring out of it and dissipating into the air. Reiya paused for a moment until Clara's pain subsided before continuing.

"You gave me some food, even though I attacked you. And even after that, you protected me from scary people, gave me a place to stay, and gave me the yummiest things I have ever eaten. So I wanted to help you however I can," Reiya finished, tying the bandages together.

"But you don't have to," Clara mumbled.

"But I want to!" Reiya exclaimed. "I'm learning to become as strong as you but until then I can help you with bandages and other things around the ship."

"But I'm still not that strong," Clara mumbled.

"Well, we will see about that during the next wave, won't we? Now turn around and take off your shirt," Reiya commanded. "I have to bandage your torso as well."

After a few minutes, Reiya finished bandaging Clara's body, her burns stinging a bit. Clara smiled and laid down on her bed, every muscle in her body sighing with relief. She covered herself with her blanket and smiled.

"Thanks for bandaging me up, Reiya. If there is anything you need from me then let me know, alright?" Clara said, turning to the ghost girl. Reiya didn't answer right away and was instead looking back and forth between her bed and Clara's.

"W-Well… I do have a favor I wanted to ask you," Reiya mumbled.

"What is it?"

"Um… well… can I… uh… sl—," Reiya said, her voice getting so quiet at the end that Clara didn't catch it.

"Sorry, I didn't hear what you said. Can you say it again?" Clara asked, sitting up from the bed.

"Can I sleep in your bed tonight?!" Reiya exclaimed, her face turning red from embarrassment.

"Wha-huh? Why? Is your bed uncomfortable? Are the blankets too thin? I'll ask for new ones!" Clara exclaimed, getting up and heading towards the door.

"No, it's not that!" Reiya replied, shaking her head.

"Oh. Then what's wrong?"

"Well… I'm a soul eater. Since we don't have physical bodies, we mostly rely on soul heat. Now throughout the day we produce enough energy to heat up our bodies. But in the night our body slows down and we can't produce enough energy. Usually adult soul eaters have a bit of cold resistance and so they would wrap around kids to keep them warm. But if they are unavailable or we are far away then we have to find a living creature to sleep with to feed off of their warmth a bit during the night."

"Oh my god. I had no idea. You must have been freezing the last few days then. Reiya, I'm so sorry," Clara apologized, hugging Reiya. Reiya hugged her back and Clara felt her body warm up again. She felt like all her worries began to melt away. Her body and mind seemed to calm down and even the thought of tomorrow's wave didn't seem to scare her as much.

Huh. Is calming people down an ability of soul eaters? I wonder if it works on dreams. Wait… I don't think I had a nightmare today…

"Wait, did you sleep with me when I was-," Clara began and Reiya nodded, her face reddening even more.

"I was sitting next to you and you seemed to be scared of something. You were shaking and sweating. So I held your hand while you slept. But you were so warm and it was late and I just…" Reiya began mumbling but Clara interrupted her. She pet the girl on the head and then crawled into her bed, raising her blanket and scooting back to make room for Reiya.

"I don't mind. So come here and let's sleep," Clara mumbled, her face turning red as she realized what she was saying.

"Yay! Thank you!" Reiya exclaimed, sliding next to Clara and burrowing her face into the girl's chest. She wrapped her arms around Clara's torso, causing Clara to blush a bit more.

Wait, why am I getting embarrassed? I went to sleepovers and shared a couch with friends. This is just normal friend stuff. Yeah… just sleeping with a friendly neighborhood ghost girl in another wor- okay yeah, definitely not normal.

"Mhm, good night, Miss Clara," Reiya mumbled, already drifting off to sleep. Clara covered the two of them with a blanket and smiled.

"J-Jim," Clara whimpered, standing on the side of Jim's bead. He groaned and turned towards her, his eyes still shut.

"Clara, it's the middle of the night, why are you up?" he grumbled. There wasn't any anger in his voice. Only concern and a hint of annoyance. Clara let out a few sobs and tried to wipe away her tears.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Jim asked, barely moving at all.

"Y-yes. The sc-cary clown w-was taking me a-away and I c-couldn't call you or mom and d-dad. Y-you were l-lookin around b-but d-," Clara started explaining, trembling and crying as she did. However, Jim cut her off and raised his blanket, moving back in his bed to make room.

"Come on, no scary clown can get you here. And I'll protect you," Jim mumbled, yawning. Clara nodded and climbed into the bed, curling up into a ball next to Jim. He tossed the blanket over her and wrapped his arm around Clara, patting her on the head gently.

"Feeling better?" he asked, his eyes still closed.

"Y-yes," Clara replied, smiling and wiping her tears away with Jim's blanket.

"Good night, Clara," Jim said, drifting off to sleep.

"Good night, Jim."

With her brother's arm wrapped around her, her body began to calm down and soon she was able to drift off to peaceful sleep.

Clara smiled at the memory and looked at the girl under her arm. Reiya was smiling and her breathing was slow and calm. While her body was a bit colder than before, Clara felt warmer and safer than she had in a while. She brushed her hand through Reiya's smooth and light hair, before wrapping her arm around Reiya again and closing her eyes. Soon, her own consciousness began to fade into a deep, peaceful sleep.

==}—

Meanwhile

It has been two days since we left to find the cooking hero. I have never seen so much death surround me. Corpses flying left and right, monsters fleeing in fear, screams from both sides. And all of them came from one source. Goron Ransei. This man is a menace and an absolute murder machine. I have never seen someone so brutal and so strong in my life.

The adventurer flinched as a monster shrieked at Goron, right before getting his skull split in half by Goron's bare hands. He moved a bit closer to a tree he was using as cover and continued to write

I have been hiding out behind trees and corpses to avoid being caught in the crossfire. However, Sherone doesn't seem to be bothered at all, as well as some of his friends. How can they be having lunch as if nothing is wrong at all?! Have they lost their minds?! Am I the only sane one?!

The adventurer scribbled away, flinching every time Goron screamed or threw a monster. He peaked out of hiding and his eyes widened in horror.

Oh lord have mercy, this man just Baned a guy in half. Screw stealing the cooking tool, what kind of psychotic friends does the cooking hero have?! I don't wanna have to deal with this madman! F*ck the mission, I wanna go home!