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