@&£%^~,... ...,~^%£&@
#@&£%^~,.. ..,~^%£&@#
##@&£%^~,. .,~^%£&@##
#@&£%^~,.. ..,~^%£&@#
@&£%^~,... ...,~^%£&@
&£%^~,.... # ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ # ....,~^%£&
£%^~,..... ^ 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†« .¨.^~:$%££
#%*†=:,¨¨. =~BEING « STOLEN «= FROM ~»» THEM. , .¨¨,:=†*%#
£§^«^¨¨¨¨. ~« , ~-« ¨ =. -= = .¨¨¨¨^«^§£
†:-,,¨¨,.¨ . ,, , . ¨.,¨¨,,-:†
==:.¨,¨,,¨ , . ¨ * ¨,,¨,¨.:==
~,¨¨,¨¨¨., ,.¨¨¨,¨¨,~
^¨,...,¨.¨ ,#¨ ¨.¨,...,¨^
,¨,.,¨,¨.. ..¨,¨,.,¨,
,.,¨,¨.¨,, AND, ,,¨.¨,¨,.,
~,¨.¨..¨,. .,¨..¨.¨,~
:~~..,,¨., NOW THE REACH OF THE POOL HAS WIDENED. ,.¨,,..~~:
=\-....,.. NOW ITS WOLVES SEE FURTHER. ..,....-\=
£=^»,¨..., ,...¨,»^=£
&$*:-^¨.¨. .¨.¨^-:*$&
#£§%*«..¨¨ ¨¨..«*%§£#
#£#£%;~,.. ..,~;%£#£#
##¶£§==-^, ,^-==§£¶##