Shivering slightly, his snout resting on the hard rock of the cave floor, a black and grey wolf slumbered heavily. Around him rested shredded clothing, the remnants of what looked to be pants and underwear torn to bits. The canine was sound asleep though, his tail twitching lightly as he snoozed and his ears flattened back against his head. His frame was softer than most wolves, padded out by excess in all areas; his haunches were supple and plush while his barrel of a stomach rose and fell steadily with each breath. Fat as he was though, underlying muscles of power made themselves known on his thick legs, each one just looking to be coated in a comfortable layer of fat. Laying right on his side with his head resting atop a sole foreleg, the canine didn’t stir for anything, even as rain thundered down outside of the cave’s mouth before him. His coat shined in the thunder, the wet weather having soaked him to the bone and making him colder than he wanted to be as he slept. Exhaustion was far more powerful than the weather though, and that left the canine fast asleep where he lie… At least, for the time being of course.
Some time later, the wolf snorted awake, stirred by the sun peeking itself out from over the horizon. The canine sneezed lightly, his whole frame jostling slightly as he did so. Not opening his eyes, he just let out a light sigh after he sneezed, moving his head off his legs lightly and raising it up. The canine didn’t so much as stand once he was sitting up as he did move to stretch, his legs all shaking lightly as they adjusted beneath his heavyset frame. Rolling back onto his stomach, the wolf just pulled himself up onto his broad stomach and grunted. From there, he moved his forelegs out from beneath his frame, stretching them out with a loud, lazy yawn before doing the same to his hind legs, standing up on them before propping up his forelegs again to get up to fully standing. All of this seemed natural to him too, just stretching lazily and waking up with the sun, despite still not having opened his eyes to see his surroundings. The canine was just letting the sun bathe him, his fur still slightly damp from the storm the night prior. It was a pleasant, warm feeling to start out his day, but one that he wasn’t entirely sure why he was enjoying. Of course, he could chance a guess or two, but he wasn’t about to do that. Instead, he just sighed again as he finally opened up his eyes and drank in his surroundings.
Huffing lightly as he looked around at the cave, his red eyes going wider and wider as he looked at the unfamiliar surroundings, the wolf began to panic slightly. His tail curled down between his hind legs, resting against the underside of his hanging stomach lightly as fear gripped his body. What had started out at a pleasant morning was quickly turning into something far more nerve-wracking for the canine as he tried in vain to figure out just what on earth was going on with him. He had no memory of getting into this cave, nor of the rain before… In fact, when he struggled to think on it, he had no memory in general. He knew he was a wolf, and upon looking at what little of his black sides and grey underbelly that he could turn his head to see, he knew he was still in his own body. Past that though, the canine was at a loss for just how he had wound up in the cave, as well as just what was going on with him. In examining himself, the wolf had spotted the remnants of the clothing behind him, and that just drove his curiosity even moreso as he had no idea what those items were. He couldn’t even hazard a guess about them, just staring on at their existence with wide, fearful eyes. He didn’t want to think about what was happening to him, so instead he just shut his eyes and sat down again onto the cold stone beneath him.
Ears pinned back and light whimpers of confusion coming from his muzzle, the wolf began to really try and think. He could remember his name, Alonely, and that he was indeed a wolf. He had a couple flashes of something… Some amount of his old life was coming to him. He tried to focus on those memories, his muzzle scrunching up and his teeth gritting as he truly tried to cling to the brief flashes in his mind. Those little snippets weren’t going to be clung to though, and vanished without a trace into his mind. Instead, he was just little more than a blank slate at this point, unable to determine how he had gotten where he was and what he was going to do about getting somewhere he knew. He of course knew what was outside of the cave, as trees and grass and bushes gave that away immediately. He knew that it was morning, he knew how to speak… All of these things he knew, and he was at least comforted by the fact that he wasn’t completely gone from himself in his own mind. Not knowing how he had gotten to where he was though was a cause for concern for the canine though, and he knew that as he just frantically tried to remember. Try as he might though, nothing else came into his mind, and with his stomach beginning to demand food from him… Alonely knew he would have to just settle for not knowing anything for the moment and instead go out in search of food.
Standing himself up with a light sigh, the canine hung his head in disappointment at his lack of knowledge about himself. He knew the world around him though, and that was enough for him to at least put one paw in front of the other in his short trek to the edge of the cave. He chanced a look over his shoulder, seeing the tattered cloth behind him resting on the floor and knowing that it had something to do with him. He couldn’t place just what that was though, and he frowned at the thought of being unable to do so. Nonetheless, he needed something to eat so that he could focus and keep trying with remembering something, anything, about himself. Try as he might, he just wasn’t going to get anywhere on an empty stomach… At least, that made sense with how much stomach there was on the canine. He didn’t even want to think about what it would take to fill that thing, nor if he was even capable of catching prey on his own. He didn’t know the first thing about catching something to eat, and as such he wasn’t entirely sure about what to do when it came to getting food. One of his fleeting memories is that other furs like him had food, so he figured that maybe if he found some of his own, he would be able to get some amount of help to get him at least started out down the road to figuring out what was going on with him. That helped him to press on, allowing him to take the first step out of the cave which he had come to in, and out into the world which seemed a lot bigger and scarier than when he had first woken up.
Not even with both paws out of the cave, a group of four other wolves came into view, each with their teeth bared and their fur standing on end. All of them with their ears flared back, they each looked ready to attack Alonely, which put him into even more shock as he stepped back once into the cave behind him. The four snarling beasts came closer though, each with fur grey as the rocks around Alonely and their eyes all looking him over with aggressive intent. None of them bothered to speak, all just glaring at the canine and letting their fangs do the talking as they moved in closer. Alonely kept on backing up though, whimpering lightly in fear as he was unsure of just what he had done wrong. He didn’t think he had done anything wrong, but the four sets of teeth and fur approaching him seemed to think otherwise as they came in closer to him.
“Uh-Uhm…” Alonely managed to murmur out, backing up more still as he felt his paws stepping over the tatters of clothes he had woken up in. The back of the cave wasn’t far behind him, and the wolf knew that as he continued to recede into the darkness behind him. The wolves were now at the mouth of the cave in front of him though, the four of the blocking that exit with their frames as they stood their ground in front of the perplexed and frightened canine. Al didn’t know what to do at all, cornered as he was without any way to speak his peace to his newfound attackers. His day was shaping up to be quite the horrendous one, as the chubby wolf knew he didn’t stand a chance against his svelte attackers. All muscle and power, each one exuded off enough strength by themselves that they could take care of him, but the four… Alonely didn’t know if he would ever leave the cave. He would never be able to figure out just what had happened to him, nor what was even the reason for his attack, nor what he had done wrong, nor anything else for that matter. The very thought of that was depressing enough for Alonely He simply stood there in the back of the cave, feeling his plush rear pressing against the back of the cave and tears welling up in his eyes.
“I… I…” The wolf managed to stutter out, but before he could continue, a harsh bark came from behind the four wolves. Each of them perked right up, their ears and heads swiveling to the source of the sound and away from Alonely. The cornered wolf also turned to look towards the sound, but was unable to see it thanks to the sound coming from just around the corner of the mouth of the cave. Each of his four attackers saw it though, and all four of them straightened right back up without a moment’s hesitation. They all then turned fully towards the bark, each going from combative to complacent within an instant. Their tails all wagged slightly at the sight of whatever was approaching, the heavy footfalls giving Alonely a new cause for concern. Clearly something that the other wolves accepted was coming, but considering that all of them had been set to attack him just a moment prior, the wolf had to make some sort of assumption that whatever was coming was going to be bad for him. As such, he just shuddered all the more and tried to make himself smaller in the cave, crouching down towards the floor of the cave and placing his head down as low as he could in submission. The footfalls came closer still, and the other wolves backed up to one side of the cave so that the being approaching could see into the cave. Alonely shut his eyes in fear, just hoping whatever was here to get him would make it quick… He could at least hope for that.
“Oh, fresh meat huh?” Came a deep, heavy voice from the approaching beast. Alonely didn’t look up at that point, his head lowering right down to the floor as he just got ready for what he felt was inevitable. The heavy steps got a little closer, stopping just after the mouth of the cave. “Git you four, he’s mine.”
“But Meph, he doe-“
“Go on!” Came another bark, this one echoing throughout the small cave and making four loud yelps come from the direction of his attackers. Four sets of paws scurried off right after, each one sounding as though they were running from that thick, heavy voice which had all but ordered them away. The voice felt like it was getting closer too, the steps which almost shook the very stones beneath Alonely getting heavier as the beast drew closer. A bear, a mountain lion… The wolf had no idea what was coming for him, but he was shaking slightly in fear as he began to feel it approach. He didn’t want anything to do with the beast, but as he felt the warmth coming off the other creature, he knew that he was going to. “Hey, new blood…”
“I-I…” Alonely stuttered, his whole frame shaking slightly. This caused his belly to jiggle involuntarily, the simple motion being obviously noticed by the larger bear before him as the wolf felt a paw press against the adipose on his side. The paw pressed in a little firmer upon feeling that fat there, Alonely feeling as though he was being judged for tenderness. He squirmed slightly, trying to wiggle away from that paw while at the same time suck in his gut. Neither worked though, as the feral in front of him leaned down in closer, his hot breath coming in on the back of Alonely’s neck.
“Chubby, new here… I think I’ll take you under my wing, new blood. Stop cowering too, it’s not very wolven of you.” Alonely raised his head on hearing this, opening his eyes to see easily the fattest wolf he could imagine. He had to wonder how the canine got around, his belly absolutely dominating his figure as he sat down in front of Alonely. Taller than the grey and black wolf by at least a full head, and several times rounder, the canine was seated down right in front of Alonely. His black fur shone in the sun, each and every bit of him glistening with what Alonely had to assume was sweat, as well as some dampness from the night before. He didn’t chance a guess though, instead staying silent as he tried to drink in all of the mass of wolf that was before him. His eyes clearly gave that away though, the other canine backing off slightly so that Alonely could see all of him… Every curving, rolling inch of his fat-caked frame. “Not what you expected?”
“Not at all.” Alonely blurted out, quickly wishing he hadn’t as his ears pinned back against his head. He rose up off the floor into a sitting position of his own, his forepaws resting against the front of his protruding stomach. Unlike his far-larger companion though, his paws at least touched the floor of the cave; Meph’s barely reached partway down his stomach. “Uhm… Thank you for saving me from those oth-“
“Them? Oh, they’re just bullies… You smelled new and were close to their territory, so they wanted to teach you a lesson.” Meph started, trailing off as he looked Alonely over again. He didn’t say a word at first, his red eyes gazing up and down the wolf as Alonely just looked back with a nervous twitch of his tail. “You’re really new here, aren’t you?”
“Y-Yeah…” Alonely murmured, Meph getting a small chuckle out of that answer.
“Well, then you’re gonna need some help. You’re the only other fatter wolf I’ve run across in these woods, so I think you’ll do.”
“I’ll do?”
“I’ve been meaning to have another wolf come with me, to really learn the gluttonous ways of being a true alpha wolf. I mean…” Meph paused, giving his stomach a heavy smack with his forepaws for emphasis before continuing. “There is more to success than just looking strong after all. Would I be this round if I wasn’t a successful hunter?” Alonely thought for a moment before shaking his head, his snout bobbing back and forth as the motion sent small undulations through the fat on his frame. Meph again laughed at that, his whole frame aslosh from the sheer amount of fat that it contained. “You look like you were successful in your own right wherever you came from too, so I think we should stick together, hmm? I can teach you the ropes out here, along with make you an ever better, bigger wolf.”
“Wow, really? You’d do that?”
“Of course! Eating alone is boring anyways, right?” Alonely nodded, his tail thumping hard on the back wall of the cave as it wagged itself into a blur of fur. The canine was over the moon, his day having gone from bad to worse to suddenly great all in the span of a few minutes. He wasn’t sure of just what he was going to make of his newfound friend, but he did seem genuine enough. “Good, glad you agree. Now… What do you say we go find us some grub, huh?”
*********
Alonely was stuffed. Absolutely, utterly, completely full of food. He groaned loudly as he rolled over onto his back, his stomach rising above him in a tightly-packed ball of food and excess. He had jiggled lazily on the entire stroll over to the back of the butcher that Meph knew about, but now he didn’t feel a single ounce of himself bounce around with his movements. He tried in vain to rub at his stomach with his forepaws, struggling to even move much more than small motions thanks to how full he was. He had tried, vainly, to keep up in eating with Meph, and that task had rendered him all but incapacitated with food. The fatter wolf was still eating his fill though, the remnants of a cow carcass sitting out behind the building for the pair to pick through. Neither really understood why the building seemed to have meat behind it, but Meph claimed to have found it months prior, and was just using it as one of his sources of food. To think that the other wolf ate even more than that in a single day made Alonely’s head spin, but at the same time made him mildly jealous. AN appetite that couldn’t be quelled, the body to match, all of that respect from other animals… It was something that Alonely couldn’t deny that he found alluring.
On the walk over to the building, the two had talked somewhat about that very fact, and how Meph had plans to give Alonely the same thing. In fact, those plans were part of the reason that Alonely had eaten himself into an utter stupor. He was to one day take over for Meph when it came to wandering out to find others to eat with, as the larger wolf was beginning to have issues getting around. Alonely had noticed that when it came to any sort of log or rock the pair needed to get over, the low-hanging belly of the far-fatter wolf scraping heavily along any underbrush and making climbing out of the question. Meph seemed unphased by this all though, and instead just looked forward to eating himself too big to get around with ease; the way he was eating at the moment, it looked like it would be soon. Alonely was jealous of that, in a sense, and glad to have been found by Meph in another sense. He was going to get bigger, just like that wolf, and he was going to exude that same power whenever he approached… At least, until he ate himself too heavy to get around, just like Meph was going to do sooner or later. For the time being though, he was just a wolf with a full, tight stomach that had eaten way too much. Sleep was coming to get him in response to that, and Alonely just had to hope that he would be right with Meph when he woke up from his food coma; there was more food to eat after all… And Alonely wanted to be a better wolf.