Horizon in Sight: Dan's Tale

[TGRF]

Spoiler Alert!

Author's Note

Spoiler Alert!

_____Greetings, one and all. On March 17, 2011, when such legendary fan fictions as The Wind in the Trees and Kit: Young Ninja were still being posted chapter by chapter, and the forum was abuzz with writers and readers alike, a new writer posted the first chapter of his second fan fiction: Quest for Valhalla.
_____At the time, I was just having fun. I didn’t know that this fan fiction would spawn three sequels, one spinoff series, and one crossover. I didn’t know that it would eventually launch me into the world of fiction writing, where I’ve been ever since. And I certainly didn’t know I would be here, eight years later, rewriting it.
_____Horizon in Sight has long been styled as ‘Dan’s Tale’. It was my original intention to write what happened to Dan after the events of the Quest, but as they tend to do, plans changed over time. When I finally began work on this story, I quickly realized that I couldn’t pick up where I left off. I would have to start over completely, even add a good amount of material before the events of the Quest, if I was to tell this tale right. So that’s what I did.
_____Horizon in Sight is very much Dan’s tale, but it is only loosely based on the Quest. The two tales are quite different. A lot of the characters in the Quest are changed or have been left out entirely. Because of this, there is no need to read the Quest before Horizon in Sight (in fact, it’s recommended that you don’t).
_____A final note before I leave you: Those who have been watching my FFC blog here on HSers know that Dan’s Tale will be one of my last fan fictions. I won’t be leaving HSers, but my fan fiction career is nearing its end. This was always inevitable. With each fan fiction I’ve written, I’ve tried to get closer to novel-standards (and I hope I’ve done so). Horizon in Sight is no exception. It has plenty of flaws - flaws which will be dealt with in my last fan fiction - but I believe it has gained strength in some key areas I was weak in.
_____However, I’ll leave you to be the judge of that. I give you Dan’s Tale: Horizon in Sight.

Acknowledgments

Spoiler Alert!

_____As with my other fan fictions, the members of HSers have been invaluable in lending support to my endeavors. You guys never fail to cheer me on, and for that, I think you.
_____Thanks must also go to TAF, who through his own excellent writing, has driven me to become better, and to excel in areas I never would have otherwise. Still working on that.
_____Special thanks goes to BiggaBullfrog, for lending his amazing support, time, and skill in proofreading and editing this fan fiction. He has once again gone above and beyond, giving me his thoughts on the fiction, and ways in which I can improve it.
_____And finally, very special thanks must go to my mother and father, for their insight when I was stuck, and their outsider perspectives on the characters of the tale.
_____Thank you all. You make my writing possible.

Posting Note:
I will try to post daily. Do note that this is not the Quest. This is very much Dan's Tale, and has only the slightest resemblance to the Quest. Simply assume you are reading a new unconnected fan fiction (which for all purposes you are).
Bigga has once again been invaluable with his proofreading and editing. Late into the proofreading, we ran into a consistent flaw threaded throughout the fan fiction, and one I very much want to fix. Doing so, however, entails going through the entire story and meticulously rewriting a very large number of passages. That would take a long time, and I don't want to keep you waiting any longer. So here's my plan:
Part one is fine. Part one is eighteen chapters long, which gives me nearly three weeks. In those three weeks, I should be able to find all of the passages in question and revise them appropriately. However, if that does NOT happen, there WILL be a slight pause between parts one and two as I finish it up.
On that note, enjoy! Chapter one is below.

~TGRF.

EDIT: The fiction has been moved here, and all chapters past chapter three will be posted exclusively there. This is because posting lengthy chapters on HSers is difficult due to the way vb code works. I have to manually indent every paragraph (meaning put in a blank line - the indent buttons don't actually work), and all formatting (italics, bold, etc.) is erased when I copy the text over, so I have to meticulously track each of those down as well.

Because of this, I have decided to instead post this fiction on one of my websites, where I will have more control over the formatting. Don't worry, the website is owned by me for strictly testing purposes. No ads or background programs or anything like that.

Also, new readers should be aware that this fan fiction contains 'bonus material' in the form of one picture, one map, and one visual-dictionary-esque entry. All three can be found on the afore-mentioned website. Simply hover over 'Horizon in Sight' at the top, and the bonus material should be the first things listed. Do note that the bonus material is released during the fan fiction, and not all before. It might not all be there yet.

Enjoy!