As the night dragged on, the concerned voices of the others getting softer and softer until it was clear that most had fallen asleep or at least sank into their own silent thoughts but Dakin knew such rest would not find him so easily. He could feel the tension of the world around him, the disharmony in the very order of nature cause by... whatever it was that had stricken their village. For a moment he thought about expressing this feeling to the others but he doubted they would understand simply because it was coming from a feeling of connection they had never experienced. Besides, Dakin did realize that trying to explain it might do more harm than good if it did nothing but add to their worries. 

After what felt like hours, the apprentice finally sat cross-legged in the corner of the room and started a meditation that Dorn had taught him only a few weeks before. First his breathing became slow and even, an action that took him far longer to learn than he'd care to admit, and after many long moments he began to [i]feel[/i] the energies around him. In a way, they were like invisible threads stretching from his soul to the living world in a crisscrossing weave so complex and intricate that it was impossible to comprehend more than little chunks, even for master druids. Dakin could only feel his own threads, everything else forming into a tangled blur, though over the years he'd been slowly distinguishing more and more of them through his training. 

Sinking deeper into the meditative trance he began to see what had been causing the uneasy feeling; strange gaps in the tangle, tiny holes of nothing; but before he could even begin to try and puzzle out the cause he was brought back to reality by Brisa's shout. His eyes flying open, he was on his feet just as Thovren issued an order to stay put and followed the girl outside. Dakin blinked a moment in confusion but quickly snatched up his staff and headed out after the crossbow-wielding boy, knowing well that he could handle himself if there was trouble. Where as the others seemed to be quite frantic and suspicious of whoever was outside the gate, the apprentice showed no such worries; he appeared perfectly calm and collected as he followed them with his staff leaning against his shoulder. "I would think that whatever was powerful enough to just [i]take[/i] everyone wouldn't necessarily need to knock on the front door and ask if anyone's home..."