Daniel ignored the sound of the Stargate shutting down behind him. Not that he wasn't aware of the portal closing, or the realization that this would be last time he'd ever travel the 'gate system, he simply couldn't care less.
He was soul weary.
The journey of a lifetime. The fascination of discovery and of worlds unknown. It was all now a distant memory of friendships forged in the heart of adversary and allies made when truth be told, xenophobia should have been the order of the day.
Hard stone from the 'gate dais gave way to a sand so hot he could feel it through his boots. This world—unknown to the Goa'uld—was perpetually baked by twin suns whose orbits never allowed for night to fall. Nothing lived here and yet ancient ruins rose around him as he walked away from the 'gate, morphing from the hot sand like swirling vortices shooting into the sky. Each step brought forth creations that rippled out into the distance like a wave. Pyramids built themselves one block at a time until their golden capstones touched the heavens. Trees burst from the ground, unfurling their branches and leaves like seeds germinating in fertile soil.
He should have been thrilled by the sight, in awe of the seemingly impossible, but he'd seen it before. Oma had shown him this place, brought him here after pulling him back from his battle with Anubis. Not quite like the quaint little diner of his childhood that had served as a juncture between mortality and ascension, this was the final resting place for those that walked the path of enlightenment and reached the end.
His mortal form fell away with each stride. Memories that haunted him, pains that ran so deep they had become seared into his psyche, all but vanished into the ether that was once his life. Clouds formed on the distant horizon— thick and heavy with rain that poured down upon the mountains and ran like rivulet into new born rivers and streams. This vista was being created for him and by him, a sanctuary or sorts, a place that would ultimately vanish when the last thread of his humanity had dissolved and he would be no more.
Daniel quickened his pace.