"Milwaukee's...gone?"
"Yep, that's about how it goes...shame really," the Gnawer replied solemnly. Of all the Garou in the Chicago area, it seemed that the Bone Gnawers were the least inclined to treat Nate like dirt.
Then again, most other Garou treated Bone Gnawers like dirt, so perhaps the Gnawers themselves were treating Nate like dirt, which technically would be treating him like an equal.
"I'm not surprised you haven't heard about it yet," he continued, "It would've been big news, if this whole undead business hadn't suddenly cropped up over here."
"But...how? How did it go?" Nate asked, still somewhat incredulous.
"Spirals, mate. Was the Spirals that dunnit," Came the reply, " 'pparently they had summin' workin' on th'inside. Gave 'em all the info they needed, and pow, took out the entire caern."
This gave Nate pause. He hesitated slightly, did he really want to know this? "...who? Do you know?"
"Never met the gal," The mangy looking Garou told him, "But she's dead now, a right fittin' fate for 'er if I do say so myself. Some Weaver-fanatic...Danya...Denise...aw, somethin' like that..."
"Damon," Nate said, half to himself, "Her name was Damon."
"Yeah that was it, Damon, like I was saying, though..." The rambler continued, but Nate had ceased to pay attention.
They were gone? The caern was gone? It wasn't the first time Nate had to face the fact that when he went wandering, things changed. There were many places he called 'home', insofar as a Strider could possibly call anywhere 'home'. And though the homes themselves may change after he returned from some journey, up to this point, they had never completely disappeared. And what of the Garou that shared the home with him?
"Were there any survivors? Do you know their names?" Nate asked, interrupting the Bone Gnawer's monologue.
The other werewolf became testy, obviously disliking the interruption of his story, "What do I look like, mate? A newspaper? If'n you don't care for my story, jus' go off to the suburbs an' ask some o' them yourself."
"I suppose I should," Nate replied, "Is that where they went?"
The Gnawer was taken aback. Obviously he had not expected Nate to take his offer seriously, "Er...ye have 'eard the story 'bout the undead, right? You sure you wanna go to th' suburbs? They'll probably round ye up and send you off t'battle. That's why I'm staying nice an' safe here in Gary."
"Is that where the survivors went?" Nate persisted.
"Well...yeah...some, but..."
"Then that's where I'm going," Nate said with finality, turning to leave.
"They'll have ye fightin' the vampires in town boy! Mark me words!" The Garou called after him.
"Wouldn't be the first time," Nate replied as he strode off.