A/N: Before I start, I must thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for giving me the idea for this story, and for showing me how to write it. You deserve to be praised! Amen.
Well, here's something I think you'll like, my fellow Hanna-Barberians! My head has been spinning with ideas for stories with Ricochet Rabbit and Droop-a-Long (who have now taken over my life as my favorite H-B characters), and last night I wrote this. Seeing as how there are virtually no stories on Ricochet Rabbit and Droop-a-Long, and knowing how my mind works, this is probably going to be a little short series featuring these two. There are going to be other H-B characters as well (including a certain fastest-shootinest cowboy and his faithful sidekick), though mostly as cameos. Ranging from sweet to silly to serious, there should be something for everyone in here, though the overarching theme is that friendship, no matter how odd or unlikely, is unbreakable-a theme that I love very much :)
Enjoy!
Title: Blazin' Trails
Genre/Tags: Western/Friendship/Hurt/Comfort/Angst/Humor/Romance(Droop-a-Long/OC)/Tragedy
Rating: T (due to violence, darker themes and tragedy in certain chapters)
Full Summary: He's the fastest sheriff in the West, with a prideful nature and an equally fast temper. He's the slowest deputy around, bumbling through life in his clumsy but easygoing way. They're total opposites at its finest, and yet they've remained the best of friends. They've had their rough patches, and more than once, their friendship has been tested to the utmost limit. But if there's one thing that can't be argued, it's that their friendship, while odd, is unbreakable. A series of vignettes focusing on Ricochet Rabbit and Droop-a-Long, ranging from sweet to silly to serious.
Disclaimer: I don't own Ricochet Rabbit or Droop-a-Long, sadly; they are property of Hanna-Barbera. The only things I own are the original characters that show up in here. If I did own them, I'd have a new cartoon out :)
Short 1: No One's Perfect
Droop-a-Long Coyote had only seen Ricochet Rabbit lose only a few times in his career as deputy. In fact, it was hard to put "lose" and "Ricochet" in the same sentence. Ricochet was the toughest sheriff in the West for a reason; no matter what the bad guys threw at him, no matter how much he got hurt, he would bounce right back and put them in their place. He never let anything get to him for long. He won pretty much all the time. That was who he was. That was what he did.
So when Ricochet returned to the office late that afternoon, Droop-a-Long was shocked to see the look of utter defeat on his face. It was so unlike the confident, spirited rabbit he knew that for a moment he thought he was hallucinating. He couldn't bring himself to say anything, and Ricochet didn't say anything to acknowledge his presence. He just took off his hat, set it on the coat rack, and slumped into his chair, burying his face in his hands.
"M-Mr. Ricochet?" Droop-a-Long started. He had a feeling that what he was going to ask would make the situation worse, but he had to ask anyway. "Did you get that renegade?"
Ricochet snapped up to face his deputy, his expression set into a hard glare. "If I caught 'im, Droop, would I really come back here empty-handed?" he asked. His tone was calm, but one could hear the barely restrained anger behind it. "If I caught 'im, would I have to file a report that states five people died today?"
Droop-a-Long's jaw dropped. He hadn't thought it was that bad. "N-No, Mr. Ricochet," he said, "but-"
"Then don't ask me such a stupid question, Droop-a-Long! Of course I didn't catch that renegade!" Ricochet snapped, jumping out of his chair.
"I reckon you're right upset," Droop-a-Long answered.
"Gee, Droop, what gave ya that idea?" Ricochet asked sarcastically.
"You're the one yellin' at me when I asked you a simple question!"
"You're right, Droop; it was a simple question! I know I shouldn't expect more from you, given that you're not the smartest around these parts, but I still do anyway!"
"Now hold on a darn minute! I don't know what you're angry about, Mr. Ricochet, but you don't need to take your anger out on me!" Droop-a-Long said.
"You don't know!" Ricochet threw his hands into the air. "Well, that's a new one I've never heard before! Out of all the things you could possibly say, you say, 'I don't know'. Was my explanation from earlier too vague, Droop-a-Long?!"
"I would know if you would tell me, Mr. Rico-"
"Alright, fine, I'll tell you," Ricochet interrupted. "So there I was, chasin' that renegade Bomb Voyage towards the jail, when all of a sudden, his gang appeared outta nowhere. They got the drop on me, and while I was knocked out, Bomb Voyage went and blew up a bank. A dozen people are hurt, and five of them were right in the blast zone. By the time I got there, I couldn't do anything!"
The broom Droop-a-Long had been holding hit the floor. "Oh my gosh..."
"Do you know how useless I feel when I can't stop a crime like that? Do you know how guilty I feel when people die because I couldn't do anything?" Ricochet continued. His anger had mostly melted away, leaving sadness and bitterness underneath. "Everyone was lookin' at me like it was my fault...and maybe they're right. Maybe it is my fault."
"No, Mr. Ricochet-"
"I understand you're tryin' to make me feel better, Droop. But let's face it. I messed up," Ricochet said. "And I'm thinkin' the best thing to do is to quit bein' the sheriff. I don't have what it takes."
Droop-a-Long was utterly speechless. He never thought he'd hear his boss-no, his best friend-say those words, ever. Ricochet wasn't one to quit on anything, and he wouldn't tolerate weakness. To see him at his weakest and saying that he was quitting, on top of that? A part of the coyote wondered if he'd stepped into the Twilight Zone.
"Mr. Ricochet, you gotta rethink this," Droop-a-Long said.
"No, Droop, my mind's made up," Ricochet said. His voice was shaky and he had to take a deep breath to calm himself down. He was not going to cry over this. "I'll be leavin' in the mornin', Droop-a-Long. And don't bother tryin' to convince me to come back, because I ain't goin' to."
He then started to walk out the door, but that was when Droop-a-Long said, "You know, there was a person who told me that no one's perfect. We all make mistakes, but we've just gotta learn from 'em and move on, not beat ourselves up over 'em."
Ricochet suppressed a groan as he looked at Droop-a-Long. "And who told you that?"
"You did, Mr. Ricochet," Droop-a-Long said, "when I was appointed to be your deputy."
Ricochet's eyes widened in surprise, and he turned to face him fully. "You...you remembered that?" he asked.
"It's kinda hard to forget when you told me a hundred times," Droop-a-Long said. "But ya also told me that you'd always be my friend, that ya wouldn't get mad if I was slow, or clumsy..."
"Droop, I'm still your friend, even after all these years," Ricochet said. His ears fell. "But I shouldn't have said those things about ya, even if I was blowin' off some steam. I'm mighty sorry I insulted you back there, Droop-a-Long. I can't blame ya if you're mad at me."
"You know I never stay mad for long, Mr. Ricochet," Droop-a-Long said. "And to be honest, I can't blame ya for bein' upset. I'd be right upset, too. But I know there's better ways to handle bein' upset."
"And I handled it wrong," Ricochet said. He sighed. "Can you forgive me, Droop-a-Long?"
"There's nothin' to forgive, Mr. Ricochet," he said. "I'm just glad you're still not talkin' about leavin'." His smile disappeared when he realized what he'd said. "Are you still plannin' on leavin'?"
"Well, I was thinkin' of it," Ricochet replied, "but I realized that I can't give up. There are more renegades to rustle up, and Bomb Voyage is one of them. Plus...I wouldn't leave my friend to protect a whole district by himself. It takes two to take on Hoop 'n Holler, after all."
"That's true," Droop-a-Long answered. He chuckled. "I figured that you'd come back, Mr. Ricochet."
"And I figured you'd say that," Ricochet replied. "Come on. Let's head on down to the saloon and get somethin' to eat. All that chasin' made me hungry."
"You sure you'll be alright?"
"I don't know for sure, Droop. But I know that if I mess up, I'll have you to help me out," he said. For the first time since he'd come back, a real smile came on his face. "Thanks a lot for your help, Droop."
"Any time, Mr. Ricochet."
The End
There aren't any fics with Ricochet or Droop-a-Long on the H-B archive. *sigh* It's a shame, though...
But yeah, this is what happens when you have a sudden brainstorm and you have to type something before you go to bed. It's probably because this week, I had an idea to write a story with Ricochet Rabbit in it, which takes place in "The Ghost of Huckleberry Hound" universe. It's not gonna be out, though, until "Have Guitar, Will Travel" is finished. I think it's kind of odd that I wanted to write a story about Ricochet and Droop-a-Long, because while I liked him enough as a kid, I've found that I've taken quite a liking to Droop-a-Long (and you can see that in this story as well). However, I promise that Ricochet and Droop-a-Long will have their own shorts to shine and they'll probably even have role reversals every so often.
As with every writer, I have different interpretations of these guys' personalities, mostly gathered from watching the Magilla Gorilla show over. So please don't be too mad if my interpretations are different from yours :)
My interpretation of Ricochet is that he's a bit more flawed than what the cartoon lets in on. He tends to fall prey to his pride, as he's a bit arrogant at times, and he's got a hot temper that doesn't take a lot to bring out, not to mention being just a little impulsive. For all his flaws, however, he is a genuinely nice guy who does his best to uphold the law and is a good guy all around. Just avoid his buttons. :) There are other sides of Ricochet that we'll be seeing, too.
Droop-a-Long, who was pretty much the Butt Monkey in the original series, has more going on than what the cartoon lets in on, too. Because of his slowness, he tends to be a little more observant of things, but he just keeps them to himself; plus, he's not outright stupid here, but more like a little naive. While he's quite the easy-going guy, there are more sides to Droop-a-Long that I'll be expanding on in this story.
Take those two personalities together, throw them in different situations, and ya get something like this. To be honest, I've never really seen them as close as Quick Draw and Baba Looey are, but the point of this is to expand on their relationship.
Next short will probably feature a nice bonding moment between the two.
I have a couple more one-shots that I'm gonna write: one with Hokey Wolf and Ding-a-Ling as part of a Thanksgiving special, a HuckleFlower one, an AU to "The Ghost of Huckleberry Hound", and a T.C./Trixie one. Constructive criticism is great as always!
God bless, iheartgod175
