.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.........- -.........
........-\ \-........
.......-\% # -------------------- # %\-.......
......-\%£ \ 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. %*~,¨¨¨¨¨.
,,¨.¨..,~/ /~,..¨.¨,,
¨¨,.,.¨¨:= =:¨¨.,.,¨¨
..¨..¨.¨¨^ ^¨¨.¨..¨..
..,¨,.¨,¨. .¨,¨.,¨,..
.¨¨.¨¨,¨,, ,,¨,¨¨.¨¨.