¨,~*§%§@@# #@@§%§*~,¨
¨¨,~*§%§@@ @@§%§*~,¨¨
¨¨¨,~*§%§@ @§%§*~,¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨,~*§%§ §%§*~,¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨,~*§% %§*~,¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨,~*§ # ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ # §*~,¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨,~* * 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# ....¨.,¨.,
..¨¨,..,.. #$OF%@EXACTLY##HOW#THEY§HAD£TRAVELED,%# ..,..,¨¨..
,¨¨,¨¨..¨¨ ##OF&THE£WAY@HOME¶@TO#THE£TIME#FROM## ¨¨..¨¨,¨¨,
¨¨¨¨¨.¨,¨, #@WHERE#THEY#CAME,#@#@##@AND@THEN#### ,¨,¨.¨¨¨¨¨
...,¨¨.¨., #####THE#FEELING#OF#THIS%KNOWLEDGE^« ,.¨.¨¨,...
¨¨...,¨,,~ ~-BEING = STOLEN ~~ FROM =~~ THEM. ¨ ~,,¨,...¨¨
¨..¨,,,~~= ~~ ¨ ~~- , », ^= ~ =~~,,,¨..¨
¨,,¨.,-~^§ : :. . . §^~-,.¨,,¨
.,,..~~†%$ ¨ ¨ . * $%†~~..,,.
,.¨,,~**¤¤ ¤¤**~,,¨.,
,¨,-~;†£¤# ,#¨ #¤£†;~-,¨,
,,^-=§%¤@@ @@¤%§=-^,,
.,»\*&@### AND, ###@&*\»,.
,.-«†%¤§@# #@§¤%†«-.,
..¨,»/%%§@ NOW THE REACH OF THE POOL HAS WIDENED. @§%%/»,¨..
,¨¨.,«=^¤£ NOW ITS WOLVES SEE FURTHER. £¤^=«,.¨¨,
,¨..,,=:^$ $^:=,,..¨,
.¨...¨,-\= =\-,¨...¨.
,¨.¨,¨¨-»; ;»-¨¨,¨.¨,
¨¨,,¨¨.,:- -:,.¨¨,,¨¨
¨¨,¨,...,, ,,...,¨,¨¨