.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
^......... # »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» # .........^
»^........ : 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. ¨¨....,...
,¨,¨¨.¨,,. .,,¨.¨¨,¨,
~,,¨¨¨¨.., ,..¨¨¨¨,,~
«,,,¨¨¨,¨¨ ¨¨,¨¨¨,,,«
\=:¨,¨..¨, ,¨..¨,¨:=\
**~~,¨,¨¨, ,¨¨,¨,~~**