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#@£@¤††»~¨ # »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» # ¨~»††¤@£@#
@£@††††»~¨ † 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... † ¨¨¨¨¨~††¤£
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#§$%*$\~.. ..~\$*%$§#
###¤*%\»,, MISPLACED EXPLORERS TRAVERSE THE ,,»\%*¤###
#&&§&*/»., LANDSCAPE, SEARCHING FOR A WAY BACK, ,.»/*&§&&#
@££&£%=»., FINDING INSTEAD ONLY STONE AND DIRT AND ,.»=%£&££@
####$*;-., 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=» ¨,==%¤¤@##
##$†;,-,.. =-BEING - STOLEN «= FROM «-~ THEM. ¨ ..,-,;†$##
##@#§%†--. «= ¨ -«- ¨ ~¨ ,» « .--†%§#@##
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#$@/.^..¨¨ AND, ¨¨..^./@$#
#£&§*=\~^. .^~\=*§&£#
#@#§£$/«,¨ NOW THE REACH OF THE POOL HAS WIDENED. ¨,«/$£§#@#
@*».,,,,¨¨ NOW ITS WOLVES SEE FURTHER. ¨¨,,,,.»*@
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