Sixes Wild: Manifest Destiny (29 page)

Originally, Six was going to have gun handles made from the sign from her parent’s homestead. Her parents had a big metal plaque that said Haus House. When her father died, they left it there. When Six snuck back west, however, she found it and made the handles for her guns for it. That was the plan anyway. This was dropped because everything in the Old West is already brown.

The biggest issue I had with art of Six has always been her ears. Desert hares have massive ears and artists almost always try to play it safe and give her reasonable-looking ears their first try. Wrong. Massive ears. Ears that break out of comic panels. Ears that defy the very laws of reason. Those are proper desert hare ears.

As for her voice, I’ve had fans thank me for having her be from their neck of the woods. The wood has no shortage of necks, it would seem. Since Six was born out west (where lots of different accents would be present), then moved to the the South, then back to the West…she has a complex accent. In the end, I represented this background by giving her a sizzle of southern intonation and a solid helping of phrases from my linguistics research into the time period, all overlaid atop the way my grandmother talks when she’s being dramatic. I also tried to include hints that she’s smarter than she lets on, especially when this allows her to razz Blake.

Six has a German last name. It’s a pun, naturally: Haus (meaning “house”) sounds like Häschen, or bunny. This comes from the extensive knowledge of the German language I’ve acquired from eating German food. As an added bonus, this means the bronze sign on the door of their frontier home said “House.” My brain makes these sorts of connections all the time, so I might as well work them into my writing for readers to unearth.

Hayes

The lion went through several revisions, going from a complete brute to a schemer to a pawn. He ended up with all these as layers. He now thinks he’s in charge, but is really just the game piece the three sides are trying to control: Six, Mei Xiu, and the organization Bennet and Morris work for.

What I wasn’t expecting was for people to actually like Hayes. Personally, I find him worthy of contempt, but that’s probably just because I know him so well.

Even as I write this, friends continue to talk about how much they like him. Keiron White, one of my editors and animator for the Sixes Wild short, postulates the following: “I’d say the reason people like Hayes is -because- he’s so worthy of contempt. That’s a sign of a great villain. He’s got enough complexity behind him to back it up. His personality is that of a contemptible jerk with a lot of power (both physically and monetarily), and his actions seem to match. The fact that he is also conflicted about many things is what really makes him interesting. His own nature versus his role in civilized society, for example. His nature as a lion aside, he’s generally rather wild and aggressive to begin with, but he has to remain calm and civil for the most part and can only really cut loose on rare occasions. The hunts, for example. He’s also a lion of much power, but not only is he surrounded by people he finds largely mindless minions or prey - he’s also been upstaged by one that he considers himself far superior to, both in status and the implied food chain. The end of Manifest Destiny was a blow to his pride. He got a prize though, so that’s some small consolation to his pride, and a fairly good trophy.”

Granted, I enjoyed Bester from Babylon 5, so who am I to judge? I would probably like Battlestar Galactica’s Baltar too, had he not stolen my hair style.

Bennet and Morris

Awfully chummy, aren’t they?

Mei Xiu

Compared to the other three POV characters, Mei Xui was added fairly late to the novel. She serves several purposes: illustrating larger forces are at work here, giving Hayes someone he actually respects and can use as a sounding board, and giving some tidbits about the lore of the ore.

Ponies vs. Horses

What to do with the horses—that became an recurrent tinkering point in the novel. I liked the idea of anthro horses in the Old West, but I also liked the idea that the characters could ride about iconically on the four-legged sort. I toyed with some alternatives, like replacing the quadrupeds with giant lizards, but that was scrapped in favor of the far more elegant solution of just calling the anthros “horses” and the ridable ones “ponies”. This idea came fairly late in the game, though, as you can see in the older documents like Six’s backstory.

Of course, this book came out just before a certain adorable TV show changed the word “pony” forever.

Western Writers of America

These folks were quite receptive to my writing a furry western. I even ended up joining, thanks to this book.

Knowing this might well be my only chance to meet other heterosexual cowboys, I was eager to attend their convention (hosted in my home city of Bismarck that year!) However, it fell on the same weekend as Anthrocon. In the end, I decided it would be wise to actually release my novel. I printed up some extra copies of the Sixes Wild comic book for them to distribute, however.

I wasn’t sure how a group of people who were so dedicated to the genre would react to furry romance, but the reactions have ranged from bewildered approval to approving bewilderment. Sixes even got nominated for their Spur Award, which is their highest honor.

Furry Writers’ Guild

One thing I certainly didn’t expect was to win the Coyótl Award! The Furry Writer’s Guild was the flip side of the coin from the WWA: the only thing that threw them a bit was that someone would write a western about various species of bipedal talking animal people in fancy hats. If ever I’ve questioned if I’m in the right fandom...

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When I first started the novel, Jeff at Sofawolf Press suggested I write summaries of the story from each of the three main character’s points of view. I’ve also included Six’s original backstory concept. Keep in mind that these are old and some parts don’t reflect the current canon, such as Six’s gun handles.

Six’s Story

I don’t have a lick a’ sense. That’s the sum cause of the thing.

Supposin’ for a hare’s breath that I were a reasonable creature, I’d’ve run out on that lawbat first chance I got, then seen to putting distance, time, and whiskey between us.

So much for that.

Started out reasonable enough. I breeze into town, hear Hayes (the local lion big bug) staging a robbery on himself, and steal the money first. The only hitch is the Sheriff. Didn’t figure he’d luck out and find me ‘fore I could even throw Hayes’ men off my trail. Lawbat then tussles with me long enough for them to catch us.

The beefers are about to plug us both. I figure I might enjoy a dip in Skull Creek better. I take the lawbat with me because, well, he didn’t really earn a bullet.

Once we climb out, we’re dying a’ cold in the desert night. Comes to pass that the lawbat, Jordan Blake by name, wind up cuddling to keep warm and not die. Entirely practical, given the situation, though not without its enjoyable moments.

Come morning, Sheriff has the bright idea of grabbin’ one a’ my guns. First he’s fixing to bring me into town, but then sees just how charming and upstanding of a bunny I am and can’t stand to see me locked away.

Hayes’ goons stumble onto us, though, and are fixin’ to shoot us. To throw them off, I shoot Blake instead.

My plan works out just dandy, and I manage to detain all the outlaws with only minor injury to the poor lawbat. Still feel a trifle bad about it, but sometimes you’ve gotta fight a cactus to get the water. I take the lot of them back to Doc in town. He patches them up, and the outlaws get sent upriver. I skedaddle ‘fore Hayes gets an eyeful of me.

I come back a month later and do a little conversing on Hayes’ plan. I apologize for the business of shooting his wing and make sure it’s alright. Then I give a few other parts a’ him a close look-see as well. I get a mite nervous, though, and take the precaution of locking him in one of his own cells. He takes it all like a gentleman, leastwise up ‘til the point where Deputy Harding walks in on us. Understandable, what with Blake not having any pants on and all.

Anyways, I chalk this up to being in heat and mosey on out a’ town.

Ah take off, trying to get back into my usual trouble, but can’t shake thoughts a’ Blake. Unconcernin’ this, I set myself on gathering some leverage on Hayes, or at least finding what manner a’ ruin he’s liable to try raining on me. My guns pull me toward the lion’s abandoned mining claim, but I find it not so abandoned. He’s bringing all sorts a’ cattle and foodstuffs down there. After some careful considerin’, I drop in on Blake and we do some right nice things for each other, seein’ as how we’re both a touch lonesome.

The next morning, I try getting a little backing from him for exploring the mine and maybe raising a little hell for Hayes if hell’s what’s called for. That duded up little squeak-rat claimed he had to get a whole mess a’ “evidence” ‘fore he could go visiting violence upon any feline bigwigs. I blasted a fitting measure a’ steam at him and charge up the mountain to see it all right mahself.

The idiot lawbat comes up after me and gets himself captured. Twice the fool I ever was, I go in and save him. Something in the rocks down there messes with my head, but I shake it off. Odd thing is, an old hare calls out my father’s name...

We get back to town and see about collectin’ a posse to go arrest some folk for knocking around a lawman.

The mine blows up.

Hayes’d done it just to dupe the town into thinking I’d gone and attacked him and his. I make bunny tracks outta town before he can catch me.

Some weeks later, I’m sitting by my little campfire and Blake drops from the night sky like a terror on wings. Takes considerable restraint to shoot near his head instead a’ through it, which he was notably ungrateful for.

We head back to the mine in the morning, finding it not as exploded as Hayes put on. Going in through the back entrance, I get real dizzy this time. I wind up having a talk with my Daddy’s ghost. Blake, being the touchy sort, takes my keeling over with womanly panic and hauls my insensible tail back to town.

We meet up with Doc and his wife. Seems Blake has recruited the foxes to assist us against Hayes. First appreciable help he’s been. The four of us decide the best way to get hard proof on Hayes is to sneak into his party. After some minor confusion as to how opposed to dresses I am, we stick Blake into one and the two of us head out.

At the shindig, we find iced beer and Hayes’ records of taking an amount of strange ore outta the mine. Being duly thorough in my searchin’, I come upon a pile a’ this ore and start on another dive into the spirit world. Blake seals away the ore just in time for us to almost get caught and have to hop out the window. Hayes’ men are on us in a hurry, so I cuff Blake inside a wagon and chase the pony team off. I get conked by a panther and the world goes black.

I have another vision of my father, finding out that he was in this mine years ago and ended up doing in the prior Hayes who ran it. I wake up and Hayes tries to have a little chat with me. In the course of it, he finds I am a woman and I find the need to put a bullet in his skull. Typically yellow, he sends a gaggle a’ ore-doped miners after me while he hoofs it outta here. I take issue with this and shoot the TNT box by the entrance by the entrance as he passes by it.

The mine explodes properly this time. I expected to be dead, but am instead puked out the side of it by a big ol’ puddle a’ water under it. Blake swoops in and carries me to the foxes before anybody feel the brunt a’ my displeasure at this. The foxes put my arm back in place and send me to recover at Deputy Harding’s house. I never could abide sittin’ idle, so after exchanging some pleasantries ‘twixt the sheets with Blake, I take my leave.

Few months later, life and my unwiser notions conspire to send me back to White Rock. I wile away some time deciding if I really feel the need to risk hot lead in my tail just to see more a’ that dang lawbat. In the end, I slink on into town and find my sweet little fruit bat. Not sure what in the hell mah plan is, but seems Blake’s now a part of ‘em. As I said, I ain’t got a lick of sense.

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