.......... ..........
.......... ..........
........., ,.........
........,~ ~,........
.......,~* *~,.......
......,~*% # ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ # %*~,......
.....,~*%¤ * 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. ~^..¨.¨¨¨¨
¨,,,.,,¨¨. .¨¨,,.,,,¨
,¨..¨.,.,¨ ¨,.,.¨..¨,
.¨¨¨...,., ,.,...¨¨¨.
¨.,,¨.¨.., ,..¨.¨,,.¨
,,.¨¨,,¨.¨ ¨.¨,,¨¨.,,