.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... # ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ # ..........
.......... ; 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. ¨¨.,..¨:~=
~..,.¨¨,,¨ ¨,,¨¨.,..~
,,,,.¨¨¨.. ..¨¨¨.,,,,
,,,,.¨,,¨. .¨,,¨.,,,,
..,,¨¨¨¨,. .,¨¨¨¨,,..
.,,¨,¨.... ....¨,¨,,.