The First Keeper, Orland, newly appointed to the position, was furious upon learning of Garrett and Erin's desertion… To say the least.
The older man always had a vendetta against the two siblings, believing them too wild, too distractible and far too enthralled by their wicked pass times.
Though nearly everyone knew the only real reason behind his heated distaste for the two was because, as they were, Garrett and Erin were a packaged deal, you insult one, you insult both.
That was bad enough, but to slander Artemus, before the two no less?
Orland had dug his own grave, shit in his own bed, whatever have you. Garrett and Erin were only there to make sure he understood those facts.
The only thing that had kept the two safe from Keeper Orland's wrath was Artemus, sweet, gentle Artemus who could soothe the ire of the bastardly old man with simple words, even when Keeper Orland was appointed the position of First Keeper, Artemus, somehow, kept him in line and most importantly away from his children.
With Garrett and Erin out of the Haven however… The blockade Artemus had carefully created, fell.
Upon hearing word of their desertion, Orland stretched his resources far and wide across the City to find the two thieves.
By his word, the Keeper Enforcers, the very group Artemus had so feared his children would join, rifled the City for weeks, searching for the two defectors tirelessly, day and night...
Artemus had never felt so helpless in his life, there he was, watching, waiting, listening, from the walls of the Haven, which had become uncomfortably prison-like, as his children were hunted like hounds in the streets above.
He had pled and begged Orland to spare his children, to, if not kill, merely return them to the Haven for discipline. Orland reminded the younger Keeper that the two thieves had the power to destroy everything the Keepers had worked up to…
Garrett and Erin were a threat to the Haven…
But they weren't!
Artemus knew they weren't…
For many moon cycles, Artemus wandered the halls of the Haven, listless and dreary… Waiting, just waiting for someone to tell him that his children had been struck dead…
The news never came… And by the dead of winter, everyone assumed that the two had perished of more natural means. The Enforcers were called off… And Artemus took to the streets.
"Surely your time would be better put elsewhere?" Keeper Deandy mused as he watched Artemus tug on a thick fur coat to count the dead.
Artemus offered no response as the first lash of frigid winter air raked its claws against his cheeks.
He counted the dead diligently, uncovering each and every corpse he came across, praying to whichever deity had the heart to listen that he wouldn't find his children, stiff, cold and dead beneath the snow…
Artemus searched for Garrett and Erin all throughout the long winter seasons, and even when all bodies had been counted, he wandered more…
Stopping only once the thaw arrived and those unfortunate and damned to not survive were dragged, bloated and rancid with decay, from the streets...
Still, Artemus, despite his worry... Never believed for a moment that his children had perished that long winter.
The Haven held a small eulogy for the two come fist seeding to commemorate their lives and the talent lost to recklessness and greed.
Artemus never bothered attending.
He was busy tracking a rather suspicious chain of thefts out by the old Mill District...