.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.........^ ^.........
........^- # -------------------- # -^........
.......^-^ ^ THE WOLF POOL EXISTS ^ ^-^.......
......^-^* ^ IN A STALE TIMELINE, ^ *^-^......
.....^-^** ^ BRANCHED WAY BACK ^ **^-^.....
....^-^**£ ^ WHEN KIRUGU VARGIR ^ £**^-^....
...^-^**£@ ^ WAS ALMOST BARREN, ^ @£**^-^...
..^-^**£@# COMPRISED MOSTLY OF ROCK AND ARID SOIL, #@£**^-^..
.^-^**£@## AND PLANTS WERE ONLY STARTING TO GROW, ##@£**^-^.
..^-^**£@# ^ AT ALL... ^ #@£**^-^..
...^-^**£@ # -------------------- # @£**^-^...
.,.¨,»;$%# #%$;»,¨.,.
.¨¨.,~==*§ MISPLACED EXPLORERS TRAVERSE THE §*==~,.¨¨.
,¨..¨.:»\^ LANDSCAPE, SEARCHING FOR A WAY BACK, ^\»:.¨..¨,
.,...¨..»† FINDING INSTEAD ONLY STONE AND DIRT AND †»..¨...,.
¨¨...,¨¨,» ROOTS THAT ARE AS HARD AS THE GROUND. »,¨¨,...¨¨
¨.,.¨,.... IT'S GETTING DARK, THEY ARE THIRSTY, ....,¨.,.¨
,¨,,¨,,.,. AND ABOUT TO FIND THE WOLF POOL. .,.,,¨,,¨,
,,¨.¨,¨.¨. .¨.¨,¨.¨,,
,.¨,,.,¨¨, .#. ,¨¨,.,,¨.,
.,¨,,¨.,,¨ ¨,,.¨,,¨,.
¨,..,,.¨¨¨ THE POOL LIES IN A SMALL METEORITE ¨¨¨.,,..,¨
,¨,¨,,,.,¨ IMPACT CRATER, SIXTY METERS ACROSS. ¨,.,,,¨,¨,
,¨.,,,¨.,. IT'S SURFACE IS PITCH BLACK AND EVEN .,.¨,,,.¨,
,¨,¨,.,.¨. THOUGH IT'S NOT WELL PROTECTED, IT IS .¨.,.,¨,¨,
,,,¨,.,.., UNDISTURBED BY WIND. ,..,.,¨,,,
¨,¨¨.¨.,¨^ ^¨,.¨.¨¨,¨
,,,,,,¨.-« ¨#¨ «-.¨,,,,,,
¨¨...,¨~=; ;=~¨,...¨¨
¨¨.¨¨.-«^= AS THEY STUMBLE ON THE POOL, THE =^«-.¨¨.¨¨
¨.,..~=\†£ EXPLORERS FIRST BELIEVE IT TO BE WATER, £†\=~..,.¨
,.,.--;^%& WHICH IS SOMETHING THEY ALL DESIRE &%^;--.,.,
,,..~†$§£@ GREATLY AT THIS POINT. THEY FAIL TO @£§$†~..,,
,¨.~^^%@## NOTICE THAT THE STARS DO NOT REFLECT ON ##@%^^~.¨,
..~:$$£### ITS SURFACE. ONE OF THEM CROUCHES TO ###£$$:~..
,,,-;*$£## DRINK, FORMS A CUP WITH HIS HANDS, ##£$*;-,,,
¨,¨^-/%£¤# LOWERS THE CUP INTO THE POOL. #¤£%/-^¨,¨
,¨,.,«:^£# #£^:«,.,¨,
.¨¨..-«:*& HE TRIES TO RESIST AT FIRST, BUT IS TOO &*:«-..¨¨.
,,..¨,.-:% CLOSE, AND HE QUICKLY GIVES UP AS THE %:-.,¨..,,
¨,..,¨.:-† LIQUID FLOWS INTO HIS MIND. THE OTHERS, †-:.¨,..,¨
,,..¨.¨.:» ~ NOT UNDERSTANDING THE=DANGER, MOVE »:.¨.¨..,,
¨,¨¨,,¨¨,, CLOSER TO HELP THEIR¨FRIEND. ,,¨¨,,¨¨,¨
¨¨,¨¨.,.¨. ¨ - - , ¨ .¨.,.¨¨,¨¨
,,¨..,.,¨, AND.THEN.THE,POOL.ANNOUNCES¨ITSELF ,¨,.,..¨,,
.¨.,¨¨¨¨.. TO¨THEM¨-¨SUDDEN¨~¨THOUGHTS.OF. ..¨¨¨¨,.¨.
¨.,..¨¨,., ¨~~DARK«WOLVES«¨CLIMBING^OUT-OF^.,- ,.,¨¨..,.¨
¨,¨.,¨..¨¨ «~-THE~POOL,~SURROUNDING\THEM=-=\= ¨¨..¨,.¨,¨
.¨.,,.,.¨¨ ^SUDDEN:THOUGHTS:OF~«=CLIMBING*§% ¨¨.,.,,.¨.
.,,..¨,¨.. INTO*THE†POOL,^THEIR%THIRST$FLARING§ ..¨,¨..,,.
...,¨,,.., ==%BRIGHT^-=$A§SUDDEN@£AWARENESS# ,..,,¨,...
....¨.,¨.. #@OF£#EXACTLY#£HOW£THEY@HAD@TRAVELED,%# ..¨,.¨....
¨¨.,,,.,,. #¤OF#THE#WAY¶HOME#¶TO#THE#TIME@FROM@@ .,,.,,,.¨¨
,,.,.,,.,~ #@WHERE#THEY@CAME,####@##AND@THEN###@ ~,.,,.,.,,
..¨.¨.,^«= #####THE#FEELING#OF#THIS%KNOWLEDGE\= =«^,.¨.¨..
¨¨,¨..--\* »«BEING « STOLEN -= FROM ~~- THEM. , *\--..¨,¨¨
.,,,¨--=%$ =- , «-« ¨ ». .« = $%=--¨,,,.
,.,¨,»†%@§ . -: ~ ¨ §@%†»,¨,.,
¨.,,-/$¤## ¨ ¨ . = ##¤$/-,,.¨
,,-»††¤§## ##§¤††»-,,
¨,~^^%£@## .#¨ ##@£%^^~,¨
¨¨:«^*$§@# #@§$*^«:¨¨
,¨.:«;^*¤@ AND, @¤*^;«:.¨,
,.¨¨,«:§£# #£§:«,¨¨.,
....¨.»;%% NOW THE REACH OF THE POOL HAS WIDENED. %%;».¨....
¨,,.,.,~*^ NOW ITS WOLVES SEE FURTHER. ^*~,.,.,,¨
,¨,.¨.¨:== ==:¨.¨.,¨,
¨,.¨.,¨,.~ ~.,¨,.¨.,¨
¨,.,.¨.¨¨, ,¨¨.¨.,.,¨
,¨,..,,,,, ,,,,,..,¨,
.¨,.¨,,,.. ..,,,¨.,¨.