#@#¤$††~,. .,~††$¤#@#
@#¤$††~,.. ..,~††$¤#@
#¤$††~,... ...,~††$¤#
@#¤$††~,.. ..,~††$¤#@
#@#¤$††~,. .,~††$¤#@#
@#¤$††~,.. # ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ # ..,~††$¤#@
#¤$††~,... † THE WOLF POOL EXISTS † ...,~††$¤#
@#¤$††~,.. † IN A STALE TIMELINE, † ..,~††$¤#@
#@#¤$††~,. † BRANCHED WAY BACK † .,~††$¤#@#
@#¤$††~,.. † WHEN KIRUGU VARGIR † ..,~††$¤#@
#¤$††~,... † WAS ALMOST BARREN, † ...,~††$¤#
@#¤$††~,.. COMPRISED MOSTLY OF ROCK AND ARID SOIL, ..,~††$¤#@
#@#¤$††~,. AND PLANTS WERE ONLY STARTING TO GROW, .,~††$¤#@#
@#¤$††~,.. † AT ALL... † ..,~††$¤#@
#¤$††~,... # ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ # ...,~††$¤#
#@#£*^--,. .,--^*£#@#
##¶#£§:«^¨ 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. .,--^%%£@#
£@$$/=,¨,. .,¨,=/$$@£
#¶@@†\~-,, ,,-~\†@@¶#
##@@$%/~., ,.~/%$@@##
@¶£@*=»^¨¨ ¨¨^»=*@£¶@
£@¤§/»,,¨. .¨,,»/§¤@£