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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. . ,.¨^~:†$¤@
@#§*=/-.¨, == ¨ »== . «, := ~ ,¨.-/=*§#@
##¶§$=;~-. ~ :, . ¨ .-~;=$§¶##
#¶£*%^«,,. , . , $ .,,«^%*£¶#
@@&%;«,¨¨. .¨¨,«;%&@@
§§*:=,,¨,, ,#¨ ,,¨,,=:*§§
*%;»~¨¨,.¨ ¨.,¨¨~»;%*
=†~:,¨¨,,, And, ,,,¨¨,:~†=
\-:¨.,.¨¨, ,¨¨.,.¨:-\
~~¨¨,.¨,¨. Now The Reach Of The Pool Has Widened. .¨,¨.,¨¨~~
..,.,,,¨., Now Its Wolves See Further. ,.¨,,,.,..
¨,¨,,,¨... ...¨,,,¨,¨
,¨.,¨,,,¨. .¨,,,¨,.¨,
,.¨,....,. .,....,¨.,
,,..,,,¨.¨ ¨.¨,,,..,,
¨¨,¨¨¨,.,. .,.,¨¨¨,¨¨