A nice change in scenery

[Dane Regan]

Continuation of I'll take it as a compliment. This one isn't open because I've got to get Dane ready for DA.

Any edits in this thread are just minor polishes before I submit it for grading. I haven't changed any of the actual plot or content.

Out of the stone gateway and into the realm of Camelot walked Dane. His stride slowing to a more relaxed, casual pace; his legs were starting to tire, and without a clear destination in mind he saw no reason to waste energy. He wasn't here with some supreme, ulterior motive - he'd just chosen this gate because it looked the least messy. Others were covered in moss or vines, while the entrance to Camelot was smooth, well cut, stone. That and it happened to be in the opposite direction from Axemerax. In retrospect, the vines could have been a better choice, he thought. After all, he wanted magical knowledge and moss or vines were typical things hermit wizards had. At least, Dane's many places of refuge were covered in the things - mostly by choice because some small part of him wanted to fit the fictional stereotype. Regardless, he'd "chosen" this one. Stone cut as well this either had a lot of time invested - or magic. Then again, it could have just been "summoned" similarly to Dane's old, itchy hat (many imaginary tears were shed at its loss).

The actual journey from the fountain had been uneventful since he ran away from Axemerax, but he didn't plan to get involved with the metal clad alien. Axe was as clueless as he was, after all, and he was bound to meet someone else with similar or better technology, and hopefully, they'd be much less eccentric. That and the guy was on the verge of killing him. Anyway, Dane wasn't a user of tools; he desired to understand and make them - while he may have been wrong, he suspected Axe couldn't replicate his equipment if given standard supplies and enough time. Yes, Omnilium could be used since it seemed to be able to fill the mechanical gaps in knowledge, but Dane hated missing information and relying on more tools to simply fill the holes was just a big fudge. He'd much rather have an actual understanding of the process involved in their manufacture.

He’d passed a few scouts coming from the direction of the gate, some of which rode on horseback, but they'd all ignored him. He reckoned he might have looked too sure of himself, and they were perhaps looking for new, struggling primes. Or maybe they were actually checking for foes, and he simply didn't look dangerous to them. Dane had nodded his head at a few of them, receiving similar motions in response. So they probably weren't just antisocial, he'd reasoned.

Nonetheless, he was feeling the loss of that hat strongly in his eyes. While relieved that there was a sun, its rays continued to stab him in the face. Viciously. He could make a new one, but that would undermine the first's legacy (and it would probably be itchy as well). So he decided to stop overreacting and just deal with it. Raising a hand above his eyes to get a better look at the unknown land, he walked onward, scanning the horizon. A large, multi-tiered city rose up into the sky, daring to reach for the clouds. Yet, higher still, was a smaller city; one that succeeded in fighting and conquering the clouds to gain dominance over its pocket of the sky. In almost no time, Dane decided that that would be his destination. It looked cool, so it probably was cool.

Of course, lacking any method of aerial locomotion, he deemed it would be reasonable to head to the city he could actually reach on foot first, and perhaps gain some information should he pass any smaller towns on the way.

Dane's stomach grumbled.

And some food. It occurred to him that he had been due a meal before he arrived in the Omniverse. But, the process of getting food was effort. And he was lazy. If he didn't absolutely have to do it now, he reasoned that it’d be perfectly fine to do later. Shrugging, he trudged onwards with a general lack of awareness of his surroundings; thinking was more important, and he had a lot to think about.