$^»~,,,,,, ,,,,,,~»^$
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,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, # »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» # ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ^ 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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^«,¨.¨..¨¨ ¨¨..¨.¨,«^
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