@&¤*^»,... ...,»^*¤&@
&¤*^»,.... ....,»^*¤&
¤*^»,..... .....,»^*¤
*^»,...... ......,»^*
^»,....... .......,»^
»,........ # »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» # ........,»
,......... ^ 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. ¨¨.¨.,.¨~»
;«-,..¨¨.¨ ¨.¨¨..,-«;
$:~,¨¨..,. .,..¨¨,~:$
&=†».....¨ ¨.....»†=&
&%^*~,.... ....,~*^%&
¶&§=\~^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^~\=§&¶