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The trees don’t sing like they should.
Not like they used to.
The words are slow and lilted with an accent that makes it difficult to make out. If he would ever have described trees as mumbling, this would certainly be the occasion for it.
He tries his best to be still and simply listen ,when finally, he realizes it in a language he does not understand. Yet the meaning still rings clear.
The song is one of sorrow and pain. They mourn. Their emotions sit in the air like humidity, heavy and stifling, but not out of the ordinary if one is familiar with the feeling. Time had not experienced this deep of feeling before. Not even after the Great Deku Tree’s death. There had still been hope then.
But what is it they mourn? He cannot say. Only that he feels it in his chest sitting like an old wound.
He voices his thoughts to the two with him; their trio separated yet again from the main group by the dark portals.
Four speaks first. While it was evident that he has gotten wrapped up by the Tree Song, with eyes distant, gaze low, fidgeting more than was normal, it has not dampened his curiosity. “So something major has just happened to cause their grief?”
“Not necessarily,” Time responds. “It is a lament, yes, but one that sounds as if they’ve been singing for a long while. Whatever happened here was not recent.”
“Alright.” Four hums. “We are definitely far after my time, then. Nothing catastrophic has happened between my adventures and yours, it sounds like. Hyrule?”
“Also nowhere near my time. Though I’m pretty certain that me and Legend are on the opposite side of the spectrum. So much has happened in our history that I could not even start listing.” Hyrule says slowly, thinking through the words before speaking them aloud. Unlike Four and himself, the Traveler has yet to show any sign that the Tree Song has affected him. He does not seem overly troubled, nor panged with an unexplained sadness. Tension lines his frame and he looks half-ready to bolt, but for Hyrule, that is not unusual in unexplained situations such as this. “If only we had the others with us. That would help us to sort out a better idea of when we are.”
Time half-agrees. It would be nice to figure out exactly what part of the timeline they currently resided in. It would help solve a bit of their mystery. But then the Tree Song would affect everyone else as well. There was no way to know exactly how it would do so.
By their quiet, it seems the others thought the same.
Deeper in the forest they went. Or perhaps closer to its edge. Regardless, they kept moving.
Uncomfortable with the silence, Four bumps against Hyrule, getting his attention. “How come the sadness, or grief, um.... Why don’t you feel it?
“I’m used to it, I guess.”
“Why?”
Hyrule fidgets with the strap of his bag. “My trees are dying. My world is on the brink of disaster. I was born into that, so it’s really no wonder why I don’t feel them being sad. I’m used to hearing them much more desperate.”
“So you are used to hearing them sing as well?” Time asks. It was an unusual trait, but with Hyrule’s affinity toward magic, it should be no surprise.
“Not really. My trees don’t sing anymore. They scream.”