Now was the time, to enact on a choice that would change my life forever. This wasn't my choice alone, nor would the pain be. We all were leaving behind the friends and family that we held dearly, all in the prospect of something greater. We didn't know if we would ever return, some of us held onto that distant hope that one day we would be reunited with our family, while some chose to stamp out that hope early on. Even if we were children, we knew the cost of what we were doing.

Mavis grabbed his pack, strapping it around his shoulders as he took a deep breath. Quietly, he opened the lock to his window, lifting it up as a cool breeze met his skin. One last time, he ran his palms against the window sill as he took in the wooden smell of his room, the same one he had been in his entire life. Thinking to himself for a moment, almost arguing with his own mind, he turned around and began to write something on a small piece of paper before leaving it on his desk.

"I just hope the others haven't had any second thoughts." He said quietly to himself, looking at the note he wrote before stepping back in front of his window.

He swiftly hopped out of his window as the shade of the night covered the area, traversing his roof before dropping onto the same old crate. Making his way towards the alley, he turned back to look at his home with longing eyes.

"Goodbye, mom, dad. I'll return someday." Mavis muttered quietly as his lip quivered, forcing his gaze forward into the darkness of the night as he pushed onward.

Now knowing this was likely to be his last time within the walls at least for a while, he took in the sight of the houses around him, studying the decorations that his people chose and appreciating them. He could barely even see the ground in front of him, the curfew in the walls was strict, which meant that at the very least people had to keep put out any lights once it was time. This worked in his favor however.

In the surrounding area around the town, he could see the glow of lanterns within the pitch black night. The light moved slowly, with two of those lights behind between him and the eastern district.

"This was always part of the plan, of course there would be guards out, of course." Mavis assured himself, lightly patting his own cheek.

He kept his body huddled against the walls of the nearby houses as he quietly moved, both to keep himself hidden and to have something near him in this darkness. Mavis looked up to see the elder tree that stood in the center of the town, reaching above the walls with its long reaching branches that almost acted like a roof for the walled in town. That tree was a sight everyone had no choice but to see everyday, the majestic entity grew to be an eyesore for Mavis, who saw it as an icon of the walls.

Dozens of fireflies of a variety of glows stayed around the elder tree at all times, shining like makeshift stars in the night. He continues forward, trying to keep his mind focused on the eastern direction, trying to his best to avoid getting misdirected in the darkness. Turning a corner, he froze up as the light from a lantern suddenly glowed from that area. Mavis stopped and knelt down, hiding in the darkness as the guard walked around the cobblestone street with his lantern in hand.

Come on, pass, pass.

He felt his body heat up as the guard walked past him, not noticing him in the completely darkness. With a sigh of relief, Mavis hurried on forward finally reaching the designated area to meet up with the others.

It was a fairly remote location within the walls; with no housing near this section and nothing except a few trees huddled near the wall. Mavis smiled as he saw the familiar faces of Ash and Misha.

"Looks like I'm not in last place." Mavis remarked as he caught his breath, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "How long have you two been here?"

"Ten minutes." Ash answered as he leaned against the wall.

"T-twenty." Misha answered shyly as she clutched her bag between her arms.

"Ah, I see. Well the others shouldn't be long then." Mavis smiled as he walked up to the wall.

He ran his palm against the cold stone, looking closely at the hieroglyphs etched into the wall. Unable to see the fine detail in the darkness, he felt over the wall with the tip of his finger before feeling an indent.

"There it is, our ticket out of here." He smiled confidently.

Just then a pair of footsteps were heard approaching the three from behind. Turning around, their eyes were met with Abigail and another young boy with her.

"Uh, what is this?" Mavis asked as he felt something tick in him.

"This is Michael, he's in our class, he started after you left to start studying at home." Abigail introduced the boy shyly.

Michael had short brown hair with hazel eyes, roughly the same height as Mavis.

"No, no, no. We discussed this, the five of us would go, nobody more, nobody less." Mavis rubbed his head and paced around.

"It's fine, Mav, the more people we have out there the better chance we have of defending ourselves." Ash said, patting Mavis on the shoulder.

Mavis sighed and glared a bit at Michael before putting on a smile.

"Fine, fine, you have a point. There are pros and cons to this, but we can make do. Did you have him bring supplies as well?" Mavis asked Abigail.

She nodded, happy with his acceptance, "Yeah, of course!".

"Don't worry about me, I can handle myself." Michael declared with a proud smile as he slapped his chest.

"Sure. Where the hell is Tristan?" Mavis sighed as he looked forward into the dark town.