.......^~: :~^.......
........^~ ~^........
.........^ ^.........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... # ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ # ..........
.......... : 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. ¤%*\«:,,¨.
...~~;=*£@ @£*=;~~...
¨.~-^§%### ###%§^-~.¨
..-**%#### ####%**-..
.¨-«/†¤&£# #£&¤†/«-¨.
,¨.,=*=%§¶ ¶§%=*=,.¨,