.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
,......... .........,
«,........ ........,«
:«,....... # «««««««««««««««««««« # .......,«:
†:«,...... : 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. ,,,..,.~-\
--¨.,¨¨¨.. ..¨¨¨,.¨--
-¨,,,¨¨.¨¨ ¨¨.¨¨,,,¨-
.¨,¨¨,,¨,. .,¨,,¨¨,¨.
..,.,,¨,., ,.,¨,,.,..
,..,,...,, ,,...,,..,