^......... .........^
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... # «««««««««««««««««««« # ..........
.......... = 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. ¨.¨.¨¨,-/%
*~,,¨¨..,, ,,..¨¨,,~*
»:,¨,,..,. .,..,,¨,:»
-¨.,.,,.,¨ ¨,.,,.,.¨-
.¨,¨,...,¨ ¨,...,¨,¨.
¨,,¨,,.¨., ,.¨.,,¨,,¨