"Dolorosa?"
The young troll's voice was laced with curiosity as his amber eyes pointedly gazed up into the dense tree. Its leaves intertwined, creating a heavy barrier between outsiders and the objects (or living creatures, for that matter) that inhabited it. Although it should have been extremely difficult for the oddly blooded child to spot the young girl within its verdant façade. Nonetheless, he effortlessly spotted her ebony and olive outfit and golden orbs as she shifted against the thin branches.
"… Dolorosa? I think there's someone in that tree!" Nibbling on his lower lip, he listening to the tranquil rustling of the leaves with squinted eyes. The fabric of his guardian's clothes billowed out behind her in opaque sheets, wrapping around her before retaining their original position.
"Don't be silly, honey. No one's up there," she mused, placing a delicate hand on his shoulder as she scanned the limbs of the tree. A frown found its way across her face as she turned to him and shook her head. It wasn't always safe to be around, especially with the child's blood mutation. She detested risking his life, but she felt guilty, confining him so near to their dwelling. It was nice to stretch her limbs and hear the beats and their various noises, after all.
Albeit a wave of confusion washed over the later-to-be Signless's face, he simply crossed his arms and did not argue. There was still an odd feeling within him, like someone was gazing down at him. The Dolorosa's grimace slowly morphed into a smile, and she wholeheartedly tousled his jet black hair with maternal affection.
"Let us go back to the hive, shall we?" she eventually suggested, although her jade tinted irises were still transfixed on the tree as the leaves moved fraction by fraction. Blinking as the Signless nodded, he smiled and spun on his heels, the Dolorosa's long strides allowing her to quickly surpass him.
As the child tromped along, his dark shoes mingling in with the emerald grasses of their land, he could have sworn he heard a feminine 'heehee' from the rough oak he had previously been looking at. Squinting, he paused and turned around, his jaws agape as his pointed ivory teeth contrasting against his creamy gray complexion.
"Hi," he greeted in a hushed tone, just loud enough so that the person in the tree was able to here him. Spotting two yellow eyes and later a flicker of white that must have been a lusus, he listened to a sweet and high pitched voice as it wafted through the breeze towards his ear drums.
"Hi there."