Hercules Wolf - Chapter One

Hercules Wolf - Chapter One, "Show what your name is"

It was a far away time and a far away land with furs and reptiles of all kinds working together, hunting together...fighting each other. Villages that were once free and peaceful now laid rule to the evil alligator of the Toothien clan named Fredrick..."Fredrick the Great" as he was called on the battlefield.  He once led many armies to victory over what once was the enemy...but, now he has since become what he hated...a ruthless tyrant who found power and fame from his victories and became power and land hungry.  He sat in a great building structure on top of a mountain with statues dedicated to him and gold and treasure filling the seemingly endless caverns of the mountain...all guarded carefully by his army and their general...a muscle bound brute of a bull named Iron who was stronger than any in Fredrick's army...no being dared to go against him, for Iron could lift more than five times his own weight and fight better in battle than any with his strength and skill.  For years the land thought that Iron was the strongest there was...but, echoes of another being who could be more powerful than Iron started to stir...one who could pull entire fleets of ships to shore...lift boulders as if they were mere pebbles...rip iron bars and chains apart with his bare paws.  He was a great grey wolf with muscles that could make Iron look tiny in comparison...this wolf's great feats could only be legend...or could they?  They say he has a name...this deliverer of freedom...this mighty wolf from the Gods...the son of the great fur Zeus...they say his name is...Hercules.
*Lightning flashes in the sky behind the mountain*
It is forbidden to say his name in public by order of Fredrick as he became tired of hearing what he called "Infant tales" of this unknown son of a God wolf.  But, in their own homes, deep into the night, furs talk of him.  Young furs and reptiles dream of the day that this mountain of muscle comes to rescue their land from the evilness. They dream of the day in which they no longer have to fear of being taken to dig in the mountain for more room to store treasures taken from other lands after victories of war...of being imprisoned in one of the many dungeons for simple acts that were deemed imprisonment worthy...to go weeks without much food because, by rule of Fredrick, rations were little to more fill him and his men and other higher class furs/reptiles who live closer to the mountain in the hills.  But, will this hero ever come they wonder?  Or is he just a myth?  Well, to find this out we must travel many lands over to the "Temple of Power".  Iron was found here by Fredrick many years ago...he defeated the best men Fredrick brought with him and it was then in which Iron was made Fredrick's General and protector of the mountain.  Of all of the things Iron could do to prove himself worthy in this temple...there was one thing he could not...he could never do.  Free himself of the chains that were said to be formed and brought from Hades from the deepest and darkest metal.  The chains wrapped around pillars that were deemed unmovable and would stand for the remains of time.
A large grey-furred wolf was now shackled to these chains...his huge and vascular arms stretched outwards...one shackle each on his wrists.  The chains aged with time, but strong as ever holding him as they wrapped to the enormous pillars.  He was passed out from his struggles to free himself before.  But, now he was awoken by voices echoing from the vast cavernous temple.  "He is not what we imagined...he is not strong as he can be...he does not believe it...this is the mighty son of Zeus?...he is simply a pup with a grown body...what shame to have those muscles and no use of them...he struggles like any other before him with the chains...he has failed this test...what kind of hero is this? *laughing becoming louder and louder until the wolf opened his deep blue eyes*
One voice remained...a female's voice.  "Tell me...who are you?"  The wolf spoke softly in reply seemingly beaten by his unsuccessful efforts to free himself earlier.  "My..my name is...Herc...Hercul...Hercules." The voice answered, "No...it is only your name if you believe it...do you believe this is your name?"  The wolf nodded.  "Then say it as you'd mean it...address it to me....if this is indeed the name given to you at birth?"  The wolf closed his eyes.  "My name is Hercu...les."  The voice started to sound frustrated.  "The name...the name of a wolf who'd allow tyrants to rule the land overseen by his father...this is how you pronounce your name?"  The wolf kept his eyes closed and started to tug at the chains a bit.  "This is the name of a wolf who could lift a cart loaded with horses...who can pull a ship with the strongest furs pushing their oars to the waters against him?"  The wolf tugged harder to the chains.  "The name of a wolf who'd stay here chained for eternity as pups and young reptiles are put to work as slaves!?  Small cracks started forming within the pillars against the chains now as the muscled wolf began to let out growls and bore his teeth...muscles rippling and flexing with amazing size and definition now. "The name of such a wolf who can defeat the evil and restore order to the land should be shouted out...now, I ask you again...WHAT's...YOUR...NAME!?  The wolf's eyes shot open and he pulled mightily to the chains now.  "MY NAME IS...HERCULES!!!"  With an astonishing show of strength he broke free of the shackles, snapping the chains as the pillars broke apart and crumbled to the floor on either sides of him...dust filling the air as he flexed his massive biceps and stood bare chested only in a cloth around his waist and sandals with long ankle straps going up his incredibly defined calves...his legs looking like pillars themselves...strong and muscled and his upper torso nothing short of mountain-like...massive chest muscles heaving from his effort and his arms like tree trunks still flexed to his sides now.  He took some steps forwards and looked to see if he could find where the voice came from, but there was no one there and now the voice was gone.  He dusted himself off and left the temple.  Now he'd go and find that mountain of evil...the journey ahead would be long and filled with danger, but he welcomed it and set forth on his adventure.
(End of Chapter One)