Departure

The village was very generic. Colourful, granted, but not out of the ordinary for any village. There were normal animals, such as sheep and the occasional mountain goat, and a few abnormal ones - cows and minor dragons and such - that had survived the original journey to establish the village. The houses were made of wood from the valley, built into square log cabins. The schoolhouse was the largest building, big enough to shelter the entire village and then some should the need arise. There were a couple stores, largely similar to the houses and only containing the barest of necessities. Somehow, the village had a library. Occasionally they would receive mail from a courier that was born in the village. Jyn was pretty sure that he was also the one that brought them the books.

The most defining feature of the village was the massive tree that lay at it's centre. The tree seeming had been there for thousands of years, and it had been growing the whole time. It was incredible just how high it grew. No one was completely sure where it ended and the stars began. It was almost as if it had been growing since before the Great Freeze so many millennia ago.

On the edge of the village lay a wall. It was a rather large wall, made out of wood from the surrounding valley and the occasional branch that thundered down from the tree at the centre of the village. The wall was very boring, a bunch of sharp logs stuck together with something-or-other. Likely mud, or something similar, but Jyn couldn't be entirely sure. There were gates in the wall, large arched double doors built with much more elegance than the rest of the wall. They were made of proper planks, with fancy carvings all over and large iron rings to act as handles on each door.

In complete honesty, the gate was just for show. The village was incredibly difficult to get to in the first place, making its protective wall practically useless as there was almost no danger to be found this deep in the mountains. The wall had occasionally stopped an avalanche or two, but wasn't much use otherwise. The gate was even worse. The doors only existed as a show of wealth. They could easily be torn off of their hinges, and barely weighed more than a feather, as they were mostly hollow. The carvings were only there for decoration and to welcome any traveller who had miraculously made it this far from civilization.

It was at one of these superfluous gates that Jyn was hesitating. The day had passed fast enough, and they had made sure to pack everything they might possibly need, being so excited that they had checked at least five times that they did, in fact, have everything. They had snuck out easily, as Chlorans are much better suited to silence than humans are, and they were now standing at the gate.

The issue was, as Jyn had taken their last look around the village, they had felt a twang of sadness and slight nostalgia. They wanted to leave, sure, but who doesn't feel at least a little apprehensive when running away from home? However, they were certain. Jyn had made up their mind and they would go through with it no matter what. And so, it was with slight anxiety, plenty of nervousness, but more than anything whole lot of resolve, that Jyn pushed open the ornamental gates of the village, and left.