.......... ..........
^......... .........^
«^........ ........^«
/«^....... .......^«/
^/«^...... ......^«/^
$^/«^..... # «««««««««««««««««««« # .....^«/^$
&$^/«^.... / THE WOLF POOL EXISTS / ....^«/^$&
@&$^/«^... / IN A STALE TIMELINE, / ...^«/^$&@
@@&$^/«^.. / BRANCHED WAY BACK / ..^«/^$&@@
#@@&$^/«^. / WHEN KIRUGU VARGIR / .^«/^$&@@#
@@&$^/«^.. / WAS ALMOST BARREN, / ..^«/^$&@@
@&$^/«^... COMPRISED MOSTLY OF ROCK AND ARID SOIL, ...^«/^$&@
&$^/«^.... AND PLANTS WERE ONLY STARTING TO GROW, ....^«/^$&
$^/«^..... / AT ALL... / .....^«/^$
^/«^...... # «««««««««««««««««««« # ......^«/^
:«.,¨.,,,¨ ¨,,,.¨,.«:
»:,,,,,¨¨. 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. ¨.¨.¨,,^«^
%\»~,¨¨,¨. .¨,¨¨,~»\%
¤%/«.,..., ,...,.«/%¤
£§=;~,.¨,¨ ¨,¨.,~;=§£
££§^;-:,,. .,,:-;^§££
@£&£%/=~¨¨ ¨¨~=/%£&£@