Winter Solstice

A year had passed since Dan’s arrival at and in that short period of time, he had grown. He had grown from a boy into a man. His black, unruly hair, was now swept back, falling down to his neck. His muscles had become more defined, and he wore an outfit akin to the one a giant would wear. Perhaps, the influence of Groff.

"Well, I guess this is it." Dan said, his voice too, had grown somewhat deeper. He looked at the giant with a smile on his face, the memories of the past year rumbling and tumbling in his head.

"KRAHAHA, I didn’t think you would actually survive the year!" Groff stated, as light-hearted as always. In contrast to Dan, he had not changed a single bit. Even his smile, from ear to ear, remained as shiny and as white as it always had.

"…Fuck you, man. Glad to know you believed in me." Dan responded, rolling his eyes, as he got into the makeshift boat Groff and him had made, while neither of them were shipwrights. Little Garden had enough trees and other materials to make something that could help on his trip. The “ship” was composed of many wooden branches tied together, and a single branch that stood upright, from which the sail hung. Dan lightly stepped on it, with his right foot, making sure it was steady, before slowly plunging his other foot into the boat.

"Here, have this!" Groff extended his forearm, presenting a within his enclosed fist. “With this, you’ll be able to get onto the next island. Drum Island. Perhaps you can get a ship there.” Groff said matter of factly, he sounded surprisingly serious, and his smile dissipated for a single second.

"Thanks." Dan said, he had noticed his brief change in attitude but chose not to comment on it. He grabbed the Log Pose from the giant’s hand, and prepared the ship to leave.

"REMEMBER THE FAVOR!!" Groff’s voice echoed loudly, and with those words in mind, Dan and his ship, disappeared from sight, and unto the blue oceans, where his next adventure would begin.

"Now it really begins…"

Arriving at Sakura!
3 days and 2 nights later, Dan managed to make it unto Drum Island. Surprisingly, the makeshift, square-shaped ship had managed to survive, relatively well. Though, as he stepped onto the snowy island, he realized that it probably wouldn’t be able to last more than one, or two trips.

The cold felt unfamiliar on his skin, like if he was being spoken to in another language. It was something he wasn’t used to, coming from the tropical Kyuka Island, and later living on Little Garden, where the climate wasn’t much different. "I already wanna leave…" Dan thought, his brows furrowed and a frown on his face.

As he continued to walk forward, his entire body shivering, in the near scenery, several, round buildings could be seen. A village! Speeding up his pace, Dan trotted towards the town by the name of Bighorn, which was made evident by a sign at the entrance of the town.

Moving his head from side to side, Dan spotted the biggest building, which he assumed was an inn and walked into it without a care in the world.