,,,:~^§£¤¶                                          ¶¤£§^~:,,,
,,:~^§£¤¶#                                          #¶¤£§^~:,,
,:~^§£¤¶##                                          ##¶¤£§^~:,
,,:~^§£¤¶#                                          #¶¤£§^~:,,
,,,:~^§£¤¶                                          ¶¤£§^~:,,,
,,,,:~^§£¤         # ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ #         ¤£§^~:,,,,
,,,,,:~^§£         ^ 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.        &$%†«~.,..
.¨¨^~^*%@#                                          #@%*^~^¨¨.
.,:«=*%@@#                                          #@@%*=«:,.
,~~*%£#@##                                          ##@#£%*~~,
.,,-^^¤&£#                                          #£&¤^^-,,.
¨,¨.~^§@§#                                          #§@§^~.¨,¨