It's been some time since I updated last. Maybe it hasn't been that long, but it feels a long time ago.
It was a couple of weeks ago that Arthur left. At first, he just went off to see his old friend. All was fine. But then there was an incident, and a death, and then he was gone.
Alastor was the one who spoke with him, when he came back briefly. He told me that he and his friend had been threatened in an alleyway, and so Arthur had changed to his wolf form to ward them off. That's a big mistake. He knew that we can't ever actually change infront of everyday humans. Of course there was a better way to handle it. But, as Alastor said, he is only young and inexperienced, and was just protecting himself and his friend. But still. The damage had been done, and that group of thugs witnessed our secret. As had his friend - Nick or something. Thankfully all were intoxicated, and Nick was able to handle it.
They walked home with another friend, apparently, when the thugs returned. Alastor said it was this moment that Arthur realised the reasoning behind our rule. Out of fear, the gangleader fired his gun at Arthur. Arty was lucky, as the intoxicated nervous man missed. The woman they were with, however, wasn't so lucky. She died at the scene as authorities arrived.
Alastor worked with Peterson to cover up Arthur's involvement, as the police asked many questions that Arthur couldn't answer. Hutchinson released him from local custody. He stayed out, to console his friend, and went to the funeral. He came back to Alastor, where they had a talk in Nine. After that - he left again. We all just let him go, since we thought he just needed space to think.
After a few days we tried to find him. No luck. We searched for a while a few days, but no sign. He is easy to locate, as we all are, thanks to Tharis' tracking system. He wasn't in the UK at all anymore. I called a meeting with all the Sectors and told them of the predicament. Amazingly, Ramah told us that he had travelled all the way to Asia to learn from him and Sultan. He said that we told him to, so they didn't question his presence. According to Ramah, Sultan had been teaching him stealth techniques and a form of martial arts. "Ninja Style" as Arthur had put it. He had been a fast learner, and had left after a week. He said he thought he was back with us.
So that left us with Arthur, missing, in Asia somewhere. Tharis couldn't track past the shores of the Isle.
So he was gone. We had no idea what he was doing or where he was. I was angry for him just leaving, but very worried as to why, and how he was handling it. I couldn't ignore the things happening back home, but I couldn't just leave Arthur. We had downloaded the code broadcast from Cambridge that killed the Beast of Dartmoor, but it was relatively useless to us - none of us could decypher it. Tharis tried his decryption on it, but he hasn't gotten very far. It's just so different to anything that we have used. There was once a time that I was impressed with Methias' enginuity like this. But now, while it is still impressive, it makes me resentful.
There was another death - Methias isn't going to stop trying to destroy the world just because we're not ready to chase him. Alastor assured me he would find Arthur and bring him home, while Julian and I were looking at what had happened in Cannock. We got another team member to look after Nine for us during this scattered time. Arctiurus came up from his station in Sector One in Antarctica - he said there wasn't a lot happening that needed his attention for a few weeks. It was nice to see him again, and hopefully we can reminise more closely later before he returns back to the snow.
As it stands right now: Alastor has told me he has found Arthur, and they are coming home soon. Thankfully he was ok. I'm sure Alastor has given him a stern talking to, so I doubt I need to pile on to that too much. Julian and I have just returned from Cannock after confering with Hutchinson and Peterson about the explosion there. Arctiurus has had the climate settings lowered substantially, so it's practically freezing in the main control room now. But we forgive him, he is a polar bear after all. I don't mind it myself, as I am well accustomed to all ranges of temperatures - but Julian has worn his coat more often. Even with his thick fur.
I anticipate greatly Alastor and Arthur's arrival.
