Meditation and perception

“Where’d they attack?” I asked.

“This way,” He gestured and walked out with one last glance behind. I followed a step behind and he led me quickly through the small town to a part that was in an obvious state of disrepair—one house had even been demolished. Since we’d finished so quickly, I guess my dad wasn’t done talking to Elder Hui yet, or else he’d probably be here as well.

I looked around and let my senses roll out again. Currents of air, patterns of energy, the touch of water and very presence of life—I felt them and I felt through them as my perceptions expanded. And with them, I felt…nothing, really.

And yet, something felt…off.

“They just appeared, you said?” I asked, crouching slightly. My vision flickered through different forms of sight, picking up traces old and new. Separating out the signs of the Grimm from the years of life people had worn into the town was hard, but…

Well, I could follow the bloodstains. That made things easier.

“Yes,” Ren knelt beside me, looking as well. “None of the perimeter guards saw anything, they were just suddenly inside.”

I frown at a particular stain, as if someone bleeding heavily had been dragged away. It cut off abruptly, fading into smatterings of droplets, but the direction…if the Grimm was taking a snack home with them, why head further into the village?

Assuming that was what happened, of course.

“Was everyone accounted for?” I asked. “After the attack, I mean?”

“No,” Ren bowed his head. “Five missing. Mr. Marrowy, his wife and daughter, and Orchid’s twins. They were gone by the time I arrived.”

I turned towards the demolished house, towards with the streaks pointed.

“And that was…?”

“The Marrowy house,” Ren supplied, closing his eyes for a moment. “It…it was destroyed in the fighting. There hasn’t been enough time to sort through everything yet.”

“I see,” I murmured, frown deepening. “Give me just a second.”

I closed my eyes and fell immediately into my meditative state. My perceptions expanded even further, the fabric of creation spreading out in marvelous color as the power of the world around me became visible. I saw the majesty of the storm gathering on the horizon, the energy cascading down from the Sun, the constant motions of the planet we clung to—but to pursue my suspicions, I had to go deeper in a literal sense, parting the curtain of veiling light beneath my feet to feel—

“Are you done already, Jaune?” My dad drew me from my thoughts, sounding impressed. “That didn’t take long at all. If you want—“

“Dad,” I interrupted, opening my eyes but not limiting my head. Now that I knew they were there, I focused my senses, reaching further and further down. “We have a problem. They’re underground.”

He was silent for a moment, as was Ren and the other people I dimly sensed nearby as I pushed my reach to its limits. They were deep, deep beneath the surface, hidden below a…kilometer of dirt? More? How did they even…the Cruach, maybe? But they shouldn’t be this far east, they were…

“How many?” My father finally asked and I switched tracks to try and count.

Then I just gave up.

“A lot,” I said, finally looking up at him. The rest of his team was nearby, as was Ren’s grandfather, all of them frowning at the ground. “Thousands, tens of thousands, maybe more. There’s a network of tunnels that…I can’t feel the whole thing, but it’s at least as big as this town.”

“Well,” My father said, sighing. “Fuck.”