,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, # ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ # ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, * 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. ¨..,,¨,^~†
~~..¨..... .....¨..~~
,¨,¨,,,¨,. .,¨,,,¨,¨,
¨¨.,.¨.¨¨. .¨¨.¨.,.¨¨
¨.,.¨¨¨¨,, ,,¨¨¨¨.,.¨
.,¨.,,,,¨¨ ¨¨,,,,.¨,.