They are now on a small spar of rock out on the open ocean.

Some kind of stupid-looking red gelatinous creature makes a noise and starts oozing toward them. It doesn't seem to have blood.

The twins snarl at it.

"Skanabgal! Ska!" It leaps at them.

Ezekiel and Tabby tackle it out of the air!

It splits into two and dissolves into not-quite-blood goo all over them.

Oh look here are a bunch more. About a dozen. One of them is green.

"The water!"

The twins dive into the ocean rather than face the unknown threat. The first thing they notice is an absence of most of the familiar scents.

There's some recognizable scents. Several common kinds of fish, coral, seaweed, other sea life. But it's all slightly off. And no large sea creatures like dolphins or whales nearby. There's also some really weird scents, too distant to get a good read on immediately.

It smells like the nearest sizable landmass is thataway (east).

The twins swim east at incredible speed. They eventually make landfall, walking out of the surf. 

"Where the Hell are we?" says Zeke.

"This is all your fault! You touched it last!" She's still holding the odd stone.

"You found the stupid thing!"

She looks towards the forest a little way from the shore. "Let's go and find something to eat, then we can figure out what to do."

There's a lot of clmbing to do, it's surprisingly cliffy for a forest island. 

Soon they encounter a large, evil looking plant. It points its mouth in their direction, drooling sap. It's immobile, at least?

Tabitha approaches cautiously.

It tries to reach out and eat her, but can't reach.

"This place is weird."

The twins sniff for any mammals, preferably human.

There are a few mammals here. Mostly small critters like rabbits. They can smell some kind of squid thing living in that stream, there's something... Sorta humany, but which smells off in a weird, flat way.

They seek out the humanish scent.

They appear to be a bunch of small people made mostly of wood, talking or singing, it's not clear which, to each other as they do work in the treetops. Their blood is more like sap, but still recognizably blood. It smells like it would be just as filling as a human's, though.

"Should we take one?" whispers Zeke.

"Yeah." 

The twins creep towards a straggler.

The koroks all leap into the air and fly away, starting to watch those two warily from above.

Ezekiel tries to leap after one.

He chants and a gust of wind pushes Zeke away.

They all seem kind of alarmed. After a quick discussion one goes off somewhere and the rest keep watching from above.

"Great, idiot, now they know we're here."

"We'll just have to eat them all and find somewhere else."

"But we don't know if there is somewhere else!"

They start singing again.

"At least they make pretty music."

After a minute or two the one who left comes back and talks some, then joins the song. The song is quicker now, almost chanting or commanding.

"...I think we should run."

"Agreed!"

The brambles and foliage were definitely not as thick when they came in.

And the twins are having a strangely difficult time tearing it apart.

And then they are thoroughly entangled, upside down, sewn up in all sorts of vines.

The koroks attach them to pairs of poles and start carrying them somewhere. One of them is trying to exchange languages, toddler talk style.

The twins hiss at the Korok.

"Plants should not be this tough!"

The talker shakes his head sadly and just carries.

The twins turn into kittens a couple of times. They just get more tangled.

They are hauled before a huge, giant, living tree. It looks at them with what might be pity, and maybe a hint of fear, and one thin branch reaches out to touch them each on the forehead. 

"Oh cursed children, I am sorry to see what has been done to you."

"Then let us go!"

"You would bring great imbalance to the land. Great pain and death. I cannot accept that before changing you."

"Change what? And how are we cursed?"

"You are cursed to kill other people to survive. That must be corrected. Other aspects of whatever magic is in you might be acceptable. It is no small thing to change someone so deeply, even for their own good or the good of others, so I will try to take your wishes into account. If you need sustenance before we reach a decision I can have my koroks bleed a small amount for you."

"Let us eat, and we'll talk."

He has a discussion with the koroks, who each bleed a small amount into a bowl. There aren't that many of them - two dozen at most - and they're kind of small. The resulting blood is about a third of that they'd want to be full.

The Deku Tree frees their arms and heads to let them drink, but the vines holding the rest of them in place are still too tough to break.

"You taste funny," Zeke says to the nearest korok.

"The most obvious path would be to turn both of you entirely human - it would be simple and uncomplicated."

The stare at him like he just suggested he break their legs.

"Why not squish us? It'll be over quicker."

"Humans are not as feeble and pathetic as you seem to think. However, I can allow you to keep some of your more benign magic if it will convince you to cooperate."

"What do you mean?"

"Change you so you are mostly human but still have a measure of strength and speed, perhaps, and the immunity to sickness and the infirmity of age. Something like this is more complex, but easier overall if it means you will not fight the change."

"What would we lose?"

"You would lose the desire for blood. I would like to make sure you do not fail to care about life for its own sake as you do now. Whatever is making you a vampire is suppressing some of the feelings humans normally have. If I release it you will end up with the morals a human child might have. Some of your various superhuman traits would be diminished - I can try to minimize this but it is very closely entwined with the consumption of blood."

"Is there anything actually good about this?"

"I do not kill you for being a blight upon the world instead."

He giggles nervously. "I guess that's a plus."

"Tell us exactly what will change about our bodies."

He is reluctant to discuss the details of the magic involved, but tells them of the tradeoffs he would be able to make - keeping their senses is easy, keeping their durability is harder, speed harder still, and strength the most difficult. They would lose about half of everything but can choose to make tradeoffs of small amounts of hard things for larger amounts of easy things if they wish.

Also, the sun will no longer burn them nearly as badly. It will be only somewhat worse than a human gets, entirely tolerable.

"Will we...have to grow up as fast as humans do?"

"I feel that would be for the best, but if you truly wish otherwise I can attempt to preserve that quality. Again at a small cost to other things. Your skin will no longer be quite so deathly pale. Furthermore, you will not be able to cause people to become like you, or, perhaps, only a limited number of people through potions I prepare now and save for later. If you two ever have children, they will have most of the same qualities as you, but slightly diminished with each generation until your descendants are effectively simply human."

"Even if we have them with the people like us?"

"Yes. This is necessary for the balance of the world. I will be powering your new bodies with natural magic, and an entire race of such beings covering the world would eventually starve the magic and all become sick and die at once."

"...I guess it's better than being dead."

"Many things are. All the humans you two now will not eat think so as well."

"What if we somehow get back to our home?"

"Most likely, my spell will fall apart and your natural state will take over once more. But I cannot know for sure. That stone you are holding brought you here?"

"Yes. Stupid rock!"

"May I see it?"

"Sure, why not!"

He doesn't touch it. He peers at it very carefully and chants a bit.

"It is not any kind of magic I know of."

"Whatever. Let's talk about what we'll keep. Do we lose less if we grow up like humans?"

Yes. But not a huge amount, perhaps ten percent more.

"I think being fast and tough is more important than being strong."

"As long as our ears and eyes are still good."

"I can lean it that way. On more matter to discuss. If you want to preserve the option to make people like you. It will cost a small part of your physical abilities. I cannot turn someone later, nor restore the sacrifice to make it possible."

"It's better than being alone forever."

"How many? Each dose costs."

"Maybe just one each?"

"Very well." He summarizes everything - no more blood, grow up quicker but not quite as fast as human, reduced abilities mostly strength, they can turn one person each into the same new kind later, they will have human empathy again, their childrens' children will eventually be close to normal humans.

"Any other concerns, or changes to your new form?"

"Um...are you going to make us wear pants?"

"Can we still eat meat?"

"Whether you wear clothing is a matter for you and whoever you want to interact with to decide. You can still eat meat, and blood will not be poison, just no longer nourishing or delicious."

Tabitha decides it's worth asking. "Could you make us look a bit different?"

"Humm, mebbe a little before it starts stretching. How different?"

"Hair colour?"

"What color you want?"

"Red."

"Sure."

"Hm..... Tricky. If I do that you get some freckles too, I think. You want it? Both of you?"

"Might as well."

"Sounds fine."

"Wish I didn't have to do this to you guys. This will take a while, actually. Got to make a magic circle and have you two sit in it for an hour, then make a special potion, then you drink it and sit there for another hour. Should't feel like much. I'm gonna make it so you can't be horrified or disgusted by things you remember doing before the change. You might need that once the new morals come in, bora."

They are smart enough to do what the tree says.

The ever-present thirst goes away as they chant.

They can still smell the koroks' blood, the trees of the forest, and everything else... But the blood, at least, is just an ordinary liquid now.

"This is weird."

"Now I will need some of your blood to make into the turning-potion. You are welcome to stay here if you aren't going to do bad things to my koroks. I can make you a raft and give you a magic leaf to sail with, too. But I hope you can maybe do something for me. Doing this for you instead of simply squishin' you both was a miracle and a half. I'm not going to demand payment, but if you can uproot some of the Boko Babas around I would appreciate it. They're evil plants that'll try to eat you, they sap my magic."

"Um, sure. Mr. Tree Guy, why'd you do this instead of just squishing us or making us be all-human."

"I don't want to be mean. Having more friends and fewer enemies is a good thing, you know? And making you all-human without you cooperatin' would've been just as hard."

"I think we saw one of those bad plants when we arrived. They don't look too tough."

"Good! I can't move or I'd go stomp them, and my koroks aren't very tough themselves. I appreciate it."

The twins run into the greenery, eager to test the limits of their new existence.

Pretty much as advertised - they're almost as fast and have almost as sharp senses as before - they're no longer strong enough to casually fling rocks bigger than themselves, that requires actual effort now.

"Our hearts are beating a lot faster."

"I know, it's weird."

A korok talks to them from above! It's the tall, red one. His voice is kind of squeaky. "Deku forgot to mention, he gave you the language most folk speak around here. That'll wear off in a week or so. Hope you learn fast."

Their thoughts and memory seem almost as sharp and clear as when they were vampires. They're still brighter than a human child.

"Sorry about trying to eat you." She's surprised that she feels guilty about that.

"Deku fixed you. It's okay. You want to play a game?"

"Sure!"

He lands and explains a simple game kind of like a weird, simplified version of chess, played with various pebbles, twigs, and leaves as pieces.

The twins pick it up very fast.

But this korok has been playing for a while.

There's three-player variants after a two-player match to get them used to it. A few other koroks pass by while they play. One settles into a nearby clearing and practices playing a lyre-like thing and singing. He's pretty good.

The twins eventually ask if there's anything to eat.

"We got nuts and berries and stuff. If you want meats... Catch a rabbit maybe? Hollo is good at making fires, he can maybe help you cook it."

"Cooking is silly."

"Yeah. I thought you since you look human though... Humans like cooking." He shrugs and moves a piece on the game. "Your turn Zeke."

While Zeke has his turn, Tabby runs off. A couple minutes later, she returns with a couple of dead rabbits.

Oakin says, "Please don't get rabbit on my game. It's just pebbles and sticks but they're my pebbles and sticks."

The twins happily devour their meal at a safe distance. 

The twins can meet the other koroks later. Their days seem to consist of flying around, singing and dancing, foraging, tending to parts of the forest, and playing games.

Their hair starts coming in red after a week or so. The freckles show up after a month.

The twins spend much of their time uprooting those evil plants and swimming. They also find themselves becoming diurnal. Most nights they sleep under Deku.

Deku comes to look at them almost like his own children. He's very glad he didn't just squish them. They're charming and friendly and helpful to have around.

There is a second, smaller island. It takes flying or climbing to get to, and is much less tame. It's not completely overrun with monsters, but Deku asks the twins to be very careful if they ever want to explore there.

One aspect of their new condition that vexes the twins is their sudden need to sweat and produce waste products. This resulted in Deku having to hear Tabby's surprisingly large vocabulary of curses.

The koroks mostly ignore these complaints. Deku opines that this is just part of life, sorry.

One day while relaxing under his branches, Tabby asks Deku a question. "Are there humans nearby?"

"There are humans here and there. Villages on some bigger islands, wanderers on a lot of the smaller ones. We haven't gotten any visitors recently for some reason. Usually they're a bit more common. Oh, and you've seen the postman come by once in a while. They don't look it but the Rito Tribe is almost human. They get sky magic from Valoo, who's sort of like me. He's a big old dragon. You could ask one for a map next time they check for mail we want to send if you think of something to pay them with."

"If me and Zeke were to go away for a while, would it make you too sad?"

"Oh, I'll be fine. I know you two can't stay with me forever. And you have to be patient when you're a tree. Come visit once every couple of decades, that's all. Maybe you should wait for the next seeding ceremony before you go though. That's always a fun time and it's only two months away."

"What happens at a seeding ceremony?"

"We have a feast and sing songs, then all the koroks take seeds from me and fly to distant islands to plant them. It helps the forest spread to otherwise barren lands."

"That sounds cool. You know, I'm not sure how long we've even been here."

"It's been about four months. You got here at the end of winter and it's almost proper summer now."

"Huh. I'm glad the sun isn't so stingy anymore."

"Glad to help. Are you two enjoying your magic leaves? You're a bit too heavy to properly fly but they glide pretty well, yeah?"

"Yeah! We keep crashing, though."

"The wind's whims are at fault I think? Not much we can do about that."

"Bah! You seen Zeke anywhere?"

"I think he's killing Boko Babas over by the stream, near the post box."

"I still think it's weird that the postman comes here."

"Oi! I send mail sometimes!"

"To who?"

"I'm friends with a couple of the Rito Tribe, and there's this photographer guy I get mail from sometimes. And I order stuff from merchants at Windfall Island once in a while."

"Like what?"

"Bottles, dye, exotic fruits, other stuff other koroks want. Potions sell okay to them."

"I'm going to go find my brother. See you guys later."

"Have fun."

She follows her twin's scent.

He's killing Boko Baras by the postbox, as Deku thought. 

"Hey, Sis." 

"Hi. Postman come by today?"

The postman has not come by today.

But that might be him in the distance. Their vision is still most of what it was before so he's at least five or ten minutes' flight away.

The twins have never really spoken to the Postman, so they decide to wait for him.

He lands near the post box. "Oh, are you two the new - not quite humans?"

"I'm not sure if we should still use the word, but me and my sister used to be called vampires."

"As good a word as any."

"We used to eat people." She says this casually, as though she's glad that's no longer the case, but she doesn't feel burdened by the fact it used to be.

"I see... You don't anymore. What have you done to atone?"

"Um, we gave up some of our vampire awesomeness. And apparently our great-great-great-great-grandkids are going to have even less. Which kinda sucks when you're immortal."

"I suppose that's something. I cannot imagine what my life would be like without Valoo's blessing."

"Is that the dragon guy?"

"Indeed so. He gave me my wings and lets me read the wind."

"That sounds so cool! We don't really know who made vampires, but whoever it was lets us turn into cats."

The twins proceed to do so.

"Interesting." He fishes through his messenger bag and produces a letter. "Do tell Hollo that there is mail for him when you next see him, please."

"We will."

"If you are ever inclined to visit the Rito Tribe, we live on Dragon Roost island. It's due north of here, perhaps twenty hours' sailing in a good wind."

"We could totally swim there."

"I could not necessarily recommend that. There are some fairly unpleasant creatures living in the sea."

"Oh?"

"Rocsquid come to mind. They shoot rocks at people. There are giant octopi here and there. Strange flying fish that like ramming things."

"Thanks for the warning. We're going to go find Hollo now, bye."

"Goodbye." He finishes inserting mail into the postbox and flies off to the west.

The twins search for Hollo's scent.

He's in his potions 'shop', a little nook in the thick wood walls of the Forest Haven about halfway up.

"Hi, Hollo! What're you making today?"

"Right now? Tea. Yes, tea. I don't have to do potions always, yeah?"

"I don't think we've ever had tea."

"If you want some I'll pour ya a cup, then."

"Okay."

He reads and occasionally adjusts or stirs the kettle for about five minutes. Then pours tea and adds a little honey to his.

It's mediocre, for tea, but probably still interesting for someone who's never had it before.

It definitely seems to be an acquired taste for the twins.

Hollo shrugs. "It's not what I expected from how that merchant described it. Still okay, but... Do you two want any potions?"

"What have you got?"

"The usual things. Healing stuff, magic booster so your leaves can float you longer, that kind of thing."

"Hmm, what will you want as payment?"

"Boko Baba seeds."

The twins look at each other for a moment, and Zeke excuses himself.

"He's just going to get some. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth having pockets."

"Pockets are handy, yeah. I hear rumors about magic bags sometimes. Lots of different magic things out there you know?"

"Maybe me and Zeke will bring some back!"

"Oh, you're leaving? I think I'll miss you getting rid of all the nasty Boko Babas so often, ha."

"Not forever. Me and Zeke just need to go find ourselves some friends."

"What, we don't count?"

She giggles. "You know what we mean, kids to make into people like us. One day we're going to be grown up you know...

"...I think I understand." He looks like he doesn't want to talk about it. "If you're going to bring someone back here, make sure that they will respect to the forest."

"We promise. And don't worry, we won't leave till the Seeding Ceremony."

Zeke returns with some seeds.

"Okay! Do you have bottles to put the potion in though? I'll let you have some of mine if you need it but it means I make you less total potion."

Tabby sighs and leaves to get some bottles.

"Hmm, what kind of potions do you recommend? We don't really need much help with healing..."

"Healing and magic power for your deku leaves could both be useful. I can even combine them. Other stuff... Temporary strength? Stuff to help plants grow? I dunno."

"Combining them sounds cool. Hey, Hollo...do you think me and Tabby leaving for a bit is a good idea?"

"Good idea? Maybe. But... If you not happy, go, fix. Is right to try to do that."

"It's just...I don't know what we should do to get ready."

"I think it will be ok. The world is not that dangerous. You probably want a raft though."

"I'm also kinda scared we might want to eat people again if we meet them."

"Nooo, Deku fixed that! He doesn't mess up on fixing things."

"Good, good. It's just...I don't know how to act around humans."

"Me neither! Clothes maybe good start. The humans I met before seemed to care a lot about having them."

He giggles. "Humans are weird."

"You won't hear me arguing with that."

Tabitha returns with some bottles. "They cook everything, even vegetables!"

"To be fair we koroks cook about half our stuff. Makes it easier to chew, and combines flavors in interesting ways."

"You guys should really try rabbit. It's delicious."

"Naaah. Oakin tried meat once, it made him really sick. It smells disgusting anyway, even cooked. We're made of plant you know."

"...Where do Koroks come from? Does Deku just make you?"

"Yeah. We used to be humans with deku leaves, who loved flying so much. Spent all day in the forest. One decade he started offering to turn us into koroks so we could stay here and care for it forever. No new koroks for a long time though."

"Hah, kinda like us."

"Huh. A little big I guess. We can't make more koroks ourselves like you used to be able to though."

"Hey, we can still make two more of us."

"Yep. Deku will maybe not do it if they might not like it well, but I don't know if many would not like it. Now that you don't eat blood."

"Humans might think how long we take to grow is a downside, though."

"You'd look for kids... Right. And it's faster now, I think? Just not as fast as a human. You're maybe half an inch taller now you know. Eh, maybe a quarter inch."

"At least the inbetween part will be faster."

Hollo shrugs. "I guess I'll start making a few super potions. And a strength one and a haste one and two plants ones. That's about all I can make with what you brought me."

"Thank you!" 

The twins head off.

"Wanna go see what's happening on the monster island?"

"Sure."

The monster island:

Contains monsters. Those gooey jelly things, chu-chus, limited threat, are probably the most common kind.

The twins have something of a grudge against the jelly things.

The jelly things don't have sufficient intelligence to detect a grudge. They do occasionally drop hardened, thick chunks of goo. Concentrated chu jelly.

At least the twins brought a bag this time.

There are also weird helicopter-hat monsters, more boko babas, thorny vines that sprout out of nowhere and try to block their path, and giant mosquito things that release dozens of small spiky critters that try to jump onto them and attach to them. Probably not a good idea to wade through here too recklessly. Their deku leaves are great at tossing around most of these monsters with gusts of wind, though.

Anything resembling treasure?

Sure! Batches of rupees - the local money - here and there, a crusty old map of the place in one chest. They probably don't manage to explore the whole place in a couple of hours though.

Yes-besides, the twins want to discuss something with Deku.

Deku is patiently minding the forest. As usual for the last half dozen decades.

"Hi Deku!"

"Hello, my little not-vampires."

"How's being a tree today?"

"The forest is healthy. Summer's coming. It's a good day."

"Anything interesting happening?"

"Makar's trying a new song."

"Ooh, where is he?"

"Down by the sea stacks on east side. Said he felt like watching the sea today. Have fun if you're goin' to see him."

They do so.

Makar is, indeed, trying a new song on his violin. It's slower and more thoughtful compared to his usual fast and cheerful tunes.

The twins start dancing to it. The vampiric grace is mostly intact.

He falters a few times. Or pauses and makes 'hmm' noises. New songs are an experiment.

...However, the pauses and falters do manage to make them slip from their rhythm. 

"I can do my usual songs instead if you guys want? I got this one in a song book Hollo ordered, is all."

He grins. "Something fast!"

So he plays something fast. It technically calls for drums, but they'll have to do without them.

The twins make full use of their consider speed and timing...and slam into each other after a few minutes.

"Owwwww..."

Makar snickers. "Dance further away from each other next time. Or more calmly. You'll be okay."

"Never used to happen," she says a bit dazedly. 

"You'll get used to your new bodies in a year or five. I did, eventually."

"Yeah, but you got better, not slower."

"Actually, we got a lot lighter! And weaker in terms of strength. It was hard to walk without jumping in the air at first. I kept falling over when I tried to turn. Our legs are really short now. Stuff like that."

"We're you big when you got changed?"

"I think so. It was so long ago I'm not entirely sure."

"I wonder if we'll forget about life before here someday."

"In a few hundred years maybe. I remember the Grand Temple and what the King and Queen looked like, still... But that's about it."

"I still kinda miss our family."

"Has Deku found out anything about the weird rock?"

"He says it's not like magic you find in this world, or the magic that used to make us live."

"Maybe he can figure out what it really is after staring at it for a while. Deku's good at that kind of thing. Jabun is too but he's not as helpful and friendly."

"Jabun?"

"Jabun is a big fish. One of the powerful spirits. Like Deku and Valoo. He doesn't do much though. At least, not up here."

"Has anyone told you this world is weird?"

"I don't think so. You're the first people not from this world I ever met. Jabun talks with the fishmen a lot though. He's a fish after all."

"I wonder if this world has vampires aside from us. Or werewolves."

"There are kinds of bats that drink blood, maybe. And the Rito Tribe seem a little were-bird-ish, don't they?"

Tabby giggles. "Humans on our world thought vampires turned into bats."

"Do you? It wouldn't be that much more silly than cats. At least bats can fly."

"Cats are the best!"

"If you say so."

And then a pair of kittens pounced on him.

Eep! He squirms and then lifts into the air, violin dropped to the ground.

The kitten-twins lose their grip and fall to the ground. By the time they reach it, they're human shaped and giggling. 

"I'll go practice music somewhere else then."

"Oh, we're sorry."

"It was just playing, I know, but I want to practice without getting too distracted..."

"That's okay."

The sun is setting, they should probably go fetch dinner soon. Also, getting tired at night is still kinda weird.

The forest has no comment on these matters.

A couple of rabbits are devoured, and the twins fall alseep under Deku.

Some weeks later, it's the day of the Seeding Festival.

Have the twins been given something to do?

It's supposed to be about the koroks, really. They can just sit and watch. Maybe dance.

"Deku, why do you want to spread the forest?"

"It's for the good of everyone. If I didn't spread the forest, I'd wither and die eventually. My trees provide shelter, building material, and food for people. Sometimes islands that would just be b are rock are lush villages instead. Why, look at Outset Island. It used to be empty but now there's a nice village there."

"That's really cool."

"Um, Deku, we just wanted to thank you for being so nice to us. I don't know if trees can be boys or girls, but you've been as good as a dad."

He smiles hugely. "I'm the caretaker of the forest and everything in it. So thank you two for being so kind and helpful in return."

Tabby steels herself. "Me and Zeke want to leave the island in the week. We want to explore the world for a couple of years!"

"And find some kids to make not vampires!"

Nod. "I still have those potions ready. I'll help you make a raft. I don't know much about sailing though. Wait until the end of the seeding ceremony though, please."

The ceremony progresses. Lots of pretty music. Some dancing. The big finale is most of the koroks flying up in formation and grabbing seeds off of Deku, before flying out the top of Forest Haven with shouts of "Good luck! See you next year!"

The twins cheer right along with them. 

And then it's over.

Hollo and Makar are among the ones who stayed.

Hollo says, "I guess you want to be leaving soon? I... I ordered a book about sailing and a sea chart for you as thanks for all the boko baba seeds."

Tears start welling a bit in the twins' eyes. "Yeah, and thanks. We're not going to be gone long."

"See you again soon, then! Well, here they are." He hands two wax paper-wrapped packages over. One is thin like an envelope.

"You'll hold onto to the potions, right Deku?"

"Of course I will. They go bad in about a century, though."

The twins actually laugh at this. "I don't think it'll take us that long."

"Well, just making sure you know." Smile.

"So, you gonna make us a raft?"

"I'm working on some branches for you. You'll have to lash them together yourselves."

The twins don't mind. 

In that case, they have a reasonably good-quality raft and an extra large Deku Leaf rigged up as a sail by around noon the next day.

Time for goodbyes. Anything they should bring with them?

They've already packed all the relatively valuable and useful stuff. Nothing else.

"Goodbye everyone!" the twins shout in unison as they set sail.

The koroks that didn't leave for the Seeding Festival wave from shore. 

The current combination of wind and ocean currents give them the option of sailing on the spectrum between quickly North or slowly West.

Slowly west. They're in no rush.

The first landmass they see is a mass of ice, about four or five hours later. There seems to be something on that island that is producing a massive wall of cold wind.

They decide it's worth investigating.

There is swirling snow going everywhere, produced by a giant rock formation in the shape of a dragon's head. It turns out that their new bodies are at least marginally vulnerable to cold. They probably don't want to spend too long here.

"Is anyone here!" shouts Tabby.

No answer. If they actually climb from their raft onto the island and walk a bit they can see what looks like a treasure chest, frozen solid inside a big block of ice.

"Bet there's some cool stuff in there. If only we could get it unfrozen."

Is there anything they could light a fire with?

Hollo gave them a small vial of firestarting potion. One drop should do on any decent campfire. But it's cold and would be very wet as soon as they start one, thanks to the snow, and the only fuel they have is their raft.

It's starting to go from feeling unpleasantly cold to feeling stingingly cold.

They decide to try smashing the ice.

Nope.

Can they drag it back to the raft?

Nope. Attached to the island.

It's really really cold. Dangerously cold, probably. Maybe they should just come back later.

They come to that conclusion, too. Cue some very cold twins sailing away with haste. 

They warm up quick enough once away from that island.

The next island they see is a smallish spar of rock with a huge shell of some kind, as tall as a house, sitting on top.

"Cooool." 

They decide to explore it.

The big shell has an entrance that is boarded over by thick wooden beams.

Also, a new version of the chu-chu monsters appears: Blue. It gives off electric shocks!

Is there anything they can throw at it?

Small rocks. It seems to have a recharge time, too, they could watch it for that.

They wait for it to give out a shock, then beat it to death. 

It drops a chunk of blue chu jelly. Seems like that was the only monster here though.

They get to battering down the wood.

The wood is fairly resistant to breaking down. They may have to light it on fire.

Tabitha fetches the fire potion. 

It burns quite nicely, doesn't it?

Yup. What's inside?

A large hollow area, walls in blue seashell motif, with a few tiny fairies flitting around near the ceiling, looking down at them nervously.

"Um, hi. Do you speak whatever language this is?"

Apparently not.

They feel watched. By something other than the tiny fairies, that is.

He sighs. "Is there a big monster in here?"

"Excuse me, young ones. I am not a monster."

She was there all along, just in the corner of their eyes.

"Oh, hi. Are you a ghost?"

"I am a fairy. Why are you here?"

"We wanted to explore the world and find some friends to make like us."

"The fairy fountains are meant to help those in dire need and heroes of the land. I do not blame you for curiosity, but since you are neither, please leave this sacred place."

"Being heroes sound fun. Can we try that?"

"I cannot help with that. Oppose evil at every turn and eventually you will qualify as a hero."

"We'll try. What do these springs do?"

"Healing and restoration and rest. I ask you to leave now, unless you come to dire need."

"If ya say so, lady."

"These fountains are holy places. If you return, show respect."

She's not there anymore. They're still being watched.

"Bye fairies, sorry we couldn't stay longer." 

What an exciting adventure that was.

The ocean has no opinion on their adventure.

They sail on, hoping for something a little more profitable, or at least amusing.

The currents shift so their course is a little more southwest instead of just west. The next island they see is long and thin, with two high points of rock. It'd look like a shark if they manage to piece together what it would look like from above.

One of the koroks is here.

They wave.

"Hi!"

"Hi! Having fun sailing so far?"

He's by a small tree. It looks wilted and dead.

"Kinda. There was this super cold island and this snooty fairy thing. What's wrong with that tree?"

"I don't know, it just won't grow no matter how much water and sun I try to give it... Last time this happened, it needed lots of spirit water from the Deku Tree's spring to grow properly, this guy dressed in green helped us. But I'm definitely not big enough to carry all that water here."

"Could we help?"

"If you go back to visit the Deku Tree some time, sure. It's annoying but the spirit water will lose its power pretty quick, so you'd have to be fast. I have to stay with my sapling until it flourishes or it dies completely though. I hope it doesn't die..."

"We'll be back," promises Tabby. 

Onwards to...somewhere.

There's a few things to see on this island. A set of strange switches and what might be a pressure plate - but they can't get them to reveal any secrets.

Actually, it's getting close to sunset. Here might be a good place to sleep. No monsters.

They decide to nap as cats in case of sunburn, but they'll likely transform in their sleep. Vampire bed wetting, almost.

The korok makes them a tiny hut, just big enough to lay in, with a few local sticks and leaves, and their Deku Leaves. He has a nest thing in one of the rock formations, himself.

The night is uneventful.

They leave in the morning, after trying to pump up the Korok's self esteem.

"Oh, thanks for the encouragement. I'm going to keep trying. Maybe it'll even grow without that spirit water!"

The prevailing wind is now strongly south, so northern travel is unlikely for now. Their sailing book says the winds change often, at least.

The same south-west course from earlier soon takes them near a larger than average island their chart labels 'Outset Island - Said to be the home of a legendary hero from a long time ago'.

"Maybe the legendary hero can help us get at those fairy springs," suggests Tabby.

Well, there's the 'from a long time ago'. But the course is set!

They encounter a few platforms sticking out of the sea, bearing pirate flags. They seem to be abandoned on first inspection.

They decide to inspect some more!

Upon closer inspection, they're still abandoned. One of them has a treasure chest containing a red hexagonal crystal. This is a red Rupee, a fairly big chunk of local money!

They may not have seen the light of pockets yet, but they have bags. Onwards to Outset!

Outset Island is pretty tall! And it has a big, lush forest across its top. Looks like the koroks spread it here a long while ago.

There's a little village of maybe eight or nine houses down by the beach, with a tall watchtower. A little girl watches their leaf-sailed raft coming in with a telescope, utterly fascinated.

Zeke waves. "Hi!"

Well, they're too far to hear him still. But she waves back before starting to climb down from the tower.

They pull the raft in. 

She runs up to meet them. "Hi! Your raft looks really neat. You have a giant leaf for a sail!"

He grins. "We know!

"Where'd you get it? From a giant tree?"

"Yes! I'm Zeke. This is Tabby. Who're you?"

"I'm Grendal but I don't like that, it makes me sound kind of evil. It would be better if Mom hadn't moved from the south to here. Call me Gren."

"Pleased to meet you!"

"You too! Interesting things don't happen here much here. It's just fishing and gardening and sewing clothes and cooking. I like it when visitors come."

"Glad to be of service." He bows. 

Giggle. "So what brings you to Outset Island?"

"Fun, adventure, friends. Shade."

"Shade? I can help with the last two things and maybe the first one."

"Our skin's a bit sensitive. Why we have to wear the stupid leaves while sailing."

"You're supposed to always wear clothes if you're outside though."

"Even when it's warm?"

"Well, less clothes then, like what I'm wearing now," A thin T-shirt and shorts, "But yeah."

"Humans are funny." 

"You're not humans?"

Cue the superhuman feats of strength and agility. "Nope!"

"Woooah."

"Cool, isn't it?"

"Yeah! You're like the Rito Tribe, sorta? The post people, they can all fly."

"We can't fly, but we can turn into cats!" He does so. 

"Cool. You make cute kitties. So, do you want me to show you the fun things on this island? There's Orca, he might want to spar with you guys. There's the highrock and the watchtower, which have great views. There's... Um..."

A little of the old predatory glint appears in Tabby's eyes. "I wanna fight the Orca! He sounds tough!"

She laughs. "He's kind of cranky though. Just warning you. Let's go."

They follow along.

Sturgeon's house is apparently the largest one on this island.

There is a loud thump from inside. Shortly after someone yells. "STOP BANGING INTO WALLS YOU CRAZY BROTHER! You keep unshelfing all my books!"

Gren ignores this exchange. "Orca! We have visitors who want to challenge you- your might!"

Tabby and Zeke start growling.

"-Why're you growling?"

"Come in and let's have a look at them, then!"

"So he knows we're tough and scary!"

Gren leads them in. "Hello Orca. This is Tabby and Zeke, they say they're stronger and faster than humans."