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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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/-,...¨,¨. .¨,¨...,-/