,-~††£¤### ###¤£††~-,
,-~††£¤### ###¤£††~-,
,-~††£¤### ###¤£††~-,
,-~††£¤### ###¤£††~-,
,,,,,,~††¤ ¤††~,,,,,,
,-~††£¤### # ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ # ###¤£††~-,
,,,,-~†††¤ † 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. ##@££†:«..
¨.,¨.~\^&@ @&^\~.¨,.¨
,^~**$£### ###£$**~^,
,.=:†%¤@@# #@@¤%†:=.,
,~»/%$&#@# #@#&$%/»~,
,--/†@¤£## ##£¤@†/--,