Tank - The Grump

- Birth -
Valter was born in a regular sized pack. However, the pack he was in, followed the 'primal' rules. The strongest male and/or female would become the leader and mate with anyone they desired.
He had three siblings, two sisters, and one brother. Valter was the largest out of all his siblings and he was admired for that.


While growing up, Valter began to notice that he had more trouble learning some of the basic pup skills.
He got shunned away from playing sessions because he could not control his strength as well as the others and would hurt other pups because of this.
Valter was fairly okay with the decision of the adults. Whilst he still desired to play every now and then, he didn't want to severely injure anyone.


He would play with branches, ranging from large to small. Though every branch would snap almost instantly once he set his teeth into them.
Since Valter never learned to control his bite force, every single one of his bites would be at his current maximum strength, without him really realizing it.

The wolves in the pack began giving him the nickname Tank, because he appeared to be incredibly muscular for such a young wolf. They even began saying his nickname more than his actual name.

Valter didn't mind the nickname at all, in fact, he liked it more than his actual name. This went on to the point where he would refer to himself as Tank instead of Valter.
During his time as a pup, he also got the nickname Val from one of his younger sisters.

---

- The ceremony -

At the age of 2, the new generation had their fighting ceremony. This generation included Tank. Every single young wolf would fight in a big circle of which no one was allowed to leave. Killing others was permitted, even encouraged since only the strongest were allowed to survive.

19 wolves entered the ring, of which only 8 came out alive. Tank and his fellow peers would then be collected by several medically experienced wolves who nursed them all back to their full strength. _'s siblings were also in the fight, one of his sisters survived whilst the others were killed.


Two weeks after the initial ceremony, the 8 were put in the ring again. This time, killing other canines was not allowed. But only one could win the fight and claim their rightful place as the next Alpha.
Though the current leader was only 4 years of age, it was a tradition to hold this ceremony. More than often, the old leader would be banned from the pack.
This was because the pack valued strength over life or relationships. It made the pack one of the strongest and fittest to ever exist. For pure strength, that is. Not for strategy, since they never stayed long enough to pass much knowledge by.

However, due to this way of living, many wolves would not make it past the age of 2. Even if they survived beyond that age, they were not expected to live longer than the age of 5. Any longer and the pack would either ban or kill the weakening wolves.


When the fight began, _'s nerves were incredibly high, but he had to keep his cool if he wanted to win. His bite was the strongest, that was certain. But the others had more training from a young age due to the playing sessions.

As the Alpha yelled the name of the pack, all wolves who were watching yelled the same and began cheering. The fight had begun.

Tank knew that he had to conserve his energy, as it would be a very long fight. He would stay back and avoid fighting at all costs. His 'technique' was to let everyone fight each other for as long as possible before he had no choice but to jump in. He had not killed any wolf in the initial ceremony, which made his chances of winning higher since no wolf was out to get him for revenge.

In his own time, Val had been practicing his dodging skills and reaction time. So while his only attacks were shoving and biting, He was able to prevent himself from getting severe injuries.

By the time it was his turn to fight, he sensed how much each one of his peers had weakened and went for the one who had the most strength first. There were no rules to the fight apart from no killing or leaving.
So anyone was allowed to play it their way. Tank took advantage of this and while the current strongest wolf was distracted with holding someone down, He laid an incredibly powerful bite to the right hind leg, fracturing the bone that came into contact with _'s jaw.
He then let go and proceeded to find the next strongest wolf. While the painful screams of the previous victim made him feel guilty, he couldn't show any sort of weakness. Otherwise, it would be game over.

Tank would attempt to make everyone weaker than him, so he would come out as the strongest of the bunch.

The fight went on for roughly three hours. And it was time for the leader to speak up.
"By showcasing great strength, the ability to fight using any method in their grasp to win, and the sheer amount of damage caused. I declare Valter to be the new leader!"

As everyone flooded the circle to congratulate Tank, the old leader slowly began lowering his head and closing his eyes. Could it be a sign of respect?

Once the majority was done cheering, they flocked over to the old alpha and began pulling on his limbs and overall just messing him up. This went on for a painfully long time before a small group shuffled through the crowd. These were carriers, They picked the old leader up and dragged him away from the camp where he would be left to die.


Valter was horrified at the sight, he thought that the leader would just walk away, he didn't know that it would go down like this. It would mean that Tank would meet the same fate once he has to step down. Val had to collect his thoughts very quickly since showing fear now, would be a disaster. His 7 still wounded peers, cheered and shoved Tank upon the Alpha's rock. Which was still drenched in blood. Tank pulled up his nose and a part of his lip when he touched the blood.

He would have to give his first speech. Whilst he had practiced this, it took a little while for him to catch his words. Tank took a deep breath and began speaking. "I would like to thank my peers for making it through the ceremony, they fought well and won the allowance to stay in this pack. The strength of our group continues on with the new generation."

"The old leader did a fine job and I will continue as the new leader, I vow to keep this pack healthy and strong. Like it always has been. I am grateful to be working for you all, and I will be looking forward to the development of our group. The ring survivors will be treated from their wounds and tonight, we will feast on the body of the bull elk which all of you managed to take down together."

---

- The next generation -

_ did his job as a leader well. And it would only be a few days until he had to choose his mates. There was a traditional time for basically everything, that included mating. Tank was still around the age of 2 at that point.

If the Alpha was a male, he would have to choose 3 to 5 females and bring pups to the world with their chosen partners. If the Alpha was a female, she organized a fight between the males. Once the fight is done, and the alpha chose the strongest one, she will pick 4 females and herself to bring pups to the world with the chosen wolf.

Tank had chosen 3 females, and each litter attempt turned out to be successful. After months, he had brought 16 pups to the world. He adored them but had to remind himself to not become attached, knowing that their ceremony would begin in a little less than 2 years.

---

- An encounter -

The pups weren't too far from being born, however, __ did not have an actual connection to anyone besides his sister. They would look out for each other and had several fighting sessions together. Fighting sessions were almost a daily thing and Tank had done at least one fight with every pack member. One particular pack member was chatting more with the leader than the others did. It was a male, he was larger than Tank and the two got along really well. Eventually, they did become friends and the alpha had one more canine to add to his trusted friend list.

---

- Famine -

Tank was now 3 years and 4 months old. It would only be a few more months until the new generation had their ceremony. However, the prey count has been decreasing. The exact reason was unknown, but this could be a serious problem for the pack. Hunger diminishes their overall strength and the new generation needed all the possible strength in order to fight.

_ has been trying a lot of options to keep the pack fed but it wasn't an easy job. When the prey count kept declining to where the group was starving, Tank went out of the camp almost all day to feed his kind.


The ceremony was closing in. He had to find a way to get food. Easy to find and catch. During his search, he would pass by other predators who were also looking for a snack. This included several kinds of foxes and loner wolves.

By the time the night began to fall, there was still no prey to be found. The male was losing his temper from his inability to care for his pack. Across him was a fox. Tank just stared blankly at it for a while, there was nothing else around to eat and he made a decision which wasn't easy. Killing another canine for food, even if it wasn't a wolf, it still felt like a relative. Plus the kill would be unfair since the small canine can't defend itself against such a force.

The kill was done quickly, one swift bite around the neck, and the fox was done for. He began harvesting all the meat and organs since he couldn't take the fox home like that. The others wouldn't accept that as a valuable meal. And since it was a canine, Tank would probably be shunned from the pack. Leader or not, eating any sort of canine was seen as a cannibalistic act in the pack.


When Tank came come with that amount of food, he was quick to serve a portion to everyone before they dug into the meal. The leader himself tried to refrain from eating but his sister came in, insisting that he should eat something. Tank eventually did eat a piece since he wouldn't want to look suspicious.

The alpha continued his hunts. Consisting of predators since there was no prey around. The pack was getting fed and the ceremony continued to close in. While Tank made sure that there was food, other patrols did not find anything at all. Eventually, the foxes became rare to find as well, since they were attacked so often. As usual, the male did not want to come back empty-handed and he had to step it up.
He searched for a lone wolf, hoping to find one which would be weak and not have a family. The leader had questioned several loners and came across one that fit his needs. It was done quickly, he shoved the wolf to the ground, keeping the mouth shut with his paw while a strong bite went straight through the soft flesh of the neck.

---

- The Trial -

It was night by the time the leader came back.
When the male gave out the harvested meat to the pack, most began digging in whilst some were smelling the food, uncertain whether to take a bite or not. Tank took a bite and acted as he usually would when eating. However, he nearly gagged at the thought of eating another wolf. The ones who were uncertain saw the leader eat in the distance and assumed that it was fine.

Everything was as normal until a pack member stood up, facing the leader and directly began questioning him with a loud voice so all could hear. "My lord, Tank. Where did you find this? Our patrols never find anything except for some occasionally frozen mice."
More wolves began speaking up.
"It doesn't taste like anything I've eaten before."
"Is this some new kind of prey?"

The questions continued until Tank's sister and close friend stepped in, silencing the crowd to allow the leader to speak. However, Tank did not have any words ready to perform a speech in order to explain it. He had to find something. A pack member walked up with a piece of meat in their maw, shoving himself through the two who had silenced the crowd. The wolf directly faced the leader, dropping the meat in front of him. The pack member circled around Tank, observing him and checking for scent markings.

"You smell like you've had an encounter with a lone wolf."
"There is no prey around."
"Have you been feeding the pack our own kind?"

Tank still could not find any words
The expression on the face of his sister and closest friend changed into surprise and disbelief.
The alpha could feel everything closing in on him as more questions arose from the pack while others were chanting something. Tank could not understand what it was as he was being overwhelmed with everything.
"Val, please tell me that it's a lie." was one of the questions the male could hear through the crowd. It was his sister's voice. She sounded worried.


The Alpha rock was soon flooded with pack members. Like a tidal wave, they came crashing down upon Tank. He lost track of his sister and close friend due to the crowd. The leader was knocked to the cold stone, the jagged edges splitting a gash above his left eye including some smaller cuts. Several wolves held the leader down. Tank could barely move, all four of his legs were being pulled on and bitten. He was unsure if his joints would be able to handle that kind of pressure, dislocated limbs would be very painful.

Through all the barking and growling of the crowd, the alpha tried yelling for the crowd to stop but there was no stopping this. His vision was in flashes of images and short scenes because he was so overwhelmed by everything, the physical pain and his inability to comprehend what was happening. In those flashes and scenes, he saw his sister jumping on top of some wolves to get close enough to him. "Don't resist, you'll die otherwise, I don't want you to die." were the words he could make out before she had to retreat.

During the mauling, The leader also saw a flash of a wolf which closely resembled his close friend holding onto Tank's leg. At that moment, he believed that it was truly his close friend. Blood was coloring the alpha rock almost completely red and the male had lost all hope of escaping.


It had been 11 minutes since the crowd swarmed Tank. For him, it felt like hours. Only now the carriers came in. They pushed through the wolves and laid very strong bites along his back as they pulled him up and began dragging the male away as soon as they could.

While Tank was being dragged away, he got one last look at the crowd's expressions and his previous trusted sister and friend. The flashes and short scenes would be replayed in his mind over and over as if everything was still happening. The carriers stopped on a hill and asked if the male had any last wishes or questions. He would request for his sister to take over since she was the strongest in the pack, second only to Tank.

There was no guaranty of it happening but shortly after the request, the now banned leader was shoved down the hill. Disposed of like trash in a bin.

-

Lying in a small puddle of his own blood, the male would just rest, not bothering to move as he would surely die from blood loss, or so he would have expected.
Once the sun rose above the trees, Tank finally moved ever so slightly. He felt strange, not completely empty. He just didn't know how to handle everything so he automatically shut most things out.

From there he just began walking, there was no reason to do so and no direction to go to, but he just kept walking and sleeping when his legs could no longer carry him.

Every now and then, he would come across a lone wolf but he kept walking as if nothing would be there. Tank didn't bother to hunt anything since he was too wounded and his mindset wouldn't allow anything to go through his throat, the taste of the lone wolf was also still lingering in his mouth.

-

About five days after the banning, the male began getting increasingly hungry. He felt sick, trying to puke several times but only spit came out of his maw. Maybe it was from the wolf he ate or the fact that no actual prey had been available for such a long time. Either way, he would have to find something, even if his wounds didn't allow it.

Another day of walking later, Tank was exhausted and he needed to rest. His senses picked up on the fact that he was near a territory border, so he would have to move out soon. Otherwise, he may just be killed, even after surviving so long after what seemed to be certain death.

He had decided to rest in a bush near the border and move out during the morning.

A certain encounter with a pack member of PI, however, made him change his plans.

---

WIP

by Scottishy

by muddytheostrich

Line-art by Trash-Klng

Line-art by xeplin

Line-art by Bloodiath

Line-art by aimeealexia15

Line-art by bakapup
Colored by Elise

Line-art by AprilSilverWolf
Colored by Nomang