¨¨¨^~††&£@ @£&††~^¨¨¨
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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... † £&††~^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨^~††&£@ # ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ # @£&††~^¨¨¨
.,,»:=¤&@@ @@&¤=:»,,.
.~-†*$¤¶@# MISPLACED EXPLORERS TRAVERSE THE #@¶¤$*†-~.
.¨,~:*£&£# 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. ¨ @¶££*=~-,,
,.,:»=*%¤£ -« , -«» ¨ ~¨ ,» - £¤%*=»:,.,
¨.¨,,-\$£@ ~ ~, : . @£$\-,,¨.¨
¨¨¨,»/%$¤@ , ¨ ¨ * @¤$%/»,¨¨¨
¨,,«/=@#@@ @@#@=/«,,¨
¨.-==*@£## ¨#, ##£@*==-.¨
¨,.~:§$@@@ @@@$§:~.,¨
¨,,,-*^§&£ AND, £&§^*-,,,¨
¨,¨¨,»=†§& &§†=»,¨¨,¨
¨,.,~†*&&£ NOW THE REACH OF THE POOL HAS WIDENED. £&&*†~,.,¨
¨¨^~=*¤£@# NOW ITS WOLVES SEE FURTHER. #@£¤*=~^¨¨
¨:~;§¤¤### ###¤¤§;~:¨
,,,=**£#@# #@#£**=,,,
.,¨,«=§£¤¶ ¶¤£§=«,¨,.
¨,¨¨:~^=$¤ ¤$=^~:¨¨,¨
,.¨,=\$£&@ @&£$\=,¨.,