:«........ ........«:
«......... .........«
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... # «««««««««««««««««««« # ..........
.......... : 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. ¨¨,,¨.:~=§
$^^~~,¨.¨. .¨.¨,~~^^$
#%%†~:¨¨.¨ ¨.¨¨:~†%%#
£§%^=~,¨,¨ ¨,¨,~=^%§£
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