A blurb/summary of Blooming Ruins. Subject to change. Currently in it's 2nd draft.
When tragedy hits a small village at the edge of the Deep Forest, a young teen, Lark, and her companion Summer, are separated from their community and family. In hopes of bringing the community back together and finding Lark’s little sister, they travel far from the ruins of Fairviolet and deep into a world ravaged by nature. There, people strive to thrive with nature, making peace rather than war with the forces that destroyed the world humans used to rule.
Meanwhile, a young woman starts her first day of field training. With ambitious goals, she trains under her mentor in order to one day take his place as Head Gatherer, settling down in a new town and new culture drastically different from the grand city of trains and cement she hailed from. However, her ambitions are for more than the lowly position of a gatherer and her loyalties still lie with the land she grew up in.
Some additional facts: a huge chunk of the world communicates through Sign language and other non-verbal means. The mc is Deaf along with a good handful of others. This along with a handful of other things will take some time to fine tune.