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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. ¨.¨¨¨¨,.,,
.¨.¨¨,,¨¨, ,¨¨,,¨¨.¨.
¨.....¨.¨, ,¨.¨.....¨
¨,¨.,.¨,,, ,,,¨.,.¨,¨
¨.¨.¨,¨¨,. .,¨¨,¨.¨.¨
...,,¨¨¨,, ,,¨¨¨,,...