Change of Plans

It had been two days since Gwaine left Camelot and he was no closer to finding the Revealing Dust than he was before he left. Through the forest and past small villages Gwaine traveled, following the rising sun. The trees in the forest provided shelter from the rainy nights and the local taverns gave him a warm meal every morning. Gwaine was used to life on the road, and it wasn’t until he left on this quest that he realized how much he missed his freedom. He could stroll into a village and not leave until his stomach was full and his feet were warm. There was no schedule to adhere to or proper behavior to follow. Gwaine could just follow the wind and let his feet take him where he wanted to go.
Gwaine started to think about the possibility of staying away from Camelot for good. There was no reason for him to stick around there. Arthur had plenty of Knights to help him protect Camelot. Gwaine was just an extra guy that seemed to lag about the castle eating. Gwen and Gaius were kind to him, but that was it. He could do just fine without them as they would do just fine without him. The more he thought about it the more Gwaine realized he was completely out of his element in Camelot. He only went there in the first place to try and redeem himself and to do something that would make his parents proud. There was nothing about cleaning weapons and doing drills that would make his parents proud. Gwaine felt like he was wasting his time in Camelot, when he could be out exploring and meeting new people. He could make more money by gambling for a day then he could training to be a Knight for a year.
Then there was Morgana, the reason he was out in the middle of the forest to begin with. When he saw her that first day in the market he never thought he would end up so completely entranced by her. When he first saw her all he saw was a lonely woman who was lost and desperate. Come to find that she was actually quite the opposite. Every conversation he had with her after that day he learned that Morgana was more independent and driven than anyone he had ever known. She was always doing whatever she could to help Uther and Arthur, and she always did it with such poise and grace. It amazed Gwaine how drastically different she was from what he had seen that day in the market. The one thing that remained the same was the level of mystery that Morgana held. Unlike the other woman Gwaine consorted with Morgana refused to ever show any signs of weakness around Gwaine. It was as if she were afraid to admit she had feelings for him. If Gwaine decided to leave Camelot that would mean he would be leaving Morgana behind too, leave the one person who showed Gwaine that there is more to love than some cleaver words.