£@¤=^~~... ...~~^=¤@£
@¤=^~~.... ....~~^=¤@
¤=^~~..... .....~~^=¤
=^~~...... ......~~^=
^~~....... .......~~^
=^~~...... # ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ # ......~~^=
¤=^~~..... ^ 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= ,..,¨,-~**
§§†«~.¨,.. $%%BRIGHT=-%@A¤SUDDEN££AWARENESS# ..,¨.~«†§§
#¤$\=-,... #$OF*#EXACTLY£@HOW#THEY#HAD¤TRAVELED,%# ...,-=\$¤#
¶§*†=-~¨,, #¤OF¤THE£WAY#HOME£¶TO#THE£TIME£FROM#¶ ,,¨~-=†*§¶
#@#*%=~-.¨ ##WHERE#THEY@CAME,######@AND#THEN@#@# ¨.-~=%*#@#
##@#%§^«., #####THE#FEELING#OF#THIS*KNOWLEDGE;~ ,.«^§%#@##
#¶#%§=-... ~~BEING « STOLEN ~- FROM ««« THEM. . ...-=§%#¶#
¶#&†\»-,., «» ¨ ««» . -. ,= = ,.,-»\†&#¶
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$§\~~,¨.,, AND, ,,.¨,~~\§$
&$=^«:.,,. .,,.:«^=$&
@¤&*:-~¨¨¨ NOW THE REACH OF THE POOL HAS WIDENED. ¨¨¨~-:*&¤@
#¶¤£*†~,., NOW ITS WOLVES SEE FURTHER. ,.,~†*£¤¶#
##@§%%=~.¨ ¨.~=%%§@##
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