Rose Rabbit

**Rose Rabbit** was one of Ricochet Rabbit's older sisters. Despite her being the middle child, she was especially fond of her younger siblings and was close to Ricochet, Rebecca and Rodney in particular. Her untimely death inspired Ricochet to not only become a sheriff, but also shaped his outlook on crime and how to handle criminals.

## Personality

Rose was a warm, friendly, and sweet woman who, as Ricochet describes, "wouldn't hurt a fly", and was especially good with kids, hence why she always looked after the younger siblings. She could be quite stern when she needed to be, and though she had a longer fuse than her mother, her wrath was something to behold, according to Ricochet and his siblings.

## History

Like many of her siblings (with the exception of Roger, the oldest), Rose was born in Carrottop Canyon , to Ricochet Rabbit III  and his wife Regina. She was the sixth of the two's twelve children, and got her name due to her pink fur, which was unique to Regina's side of the family. Over the course of several years, new additions were made to their family: Rachel  (born two years later), Rodney (born a year after Rachel), Ricochet (born three years after), Rebecca (born two years after Ricochet), Rosanna (born two years after Rebecca) and Rita (born a year later). At a young age, she was taught how to cook, clean and sew, and at age 7 she was enrolled in the local school with the help of her uncle Ronald. She especially loved music and was known to be part of the local church choir growing up.

One experience that would shape her life would be the passing of her maternal grandmother, with whom she was very close. Though she tried her best to nurse her back to health, there was little that Rose could do. She was shattered by her grandmother's death, but the doctor who attended to her grandmother in her final moments inspired her to become a nurse. Insistent on this dream, she eventually worked with the town's local doctor, Gale Adams.

In addition to training to become a nurse, Rose also looked after her younger brothers and sisters. Out of all her younger siblings, she was closest to Rodney and Ricochet, the latter of whom adored her and followed her whenever he could.

### Marriage

When Rose was twenty years old, she met a young rabbit named Isaiah Edwards, who hailed from California. He had come to Texas seeking a better life, but en route to Carrottop Canyon, he contracted scarlet fever; his brother Jason brought him to the doctor's office. Rose and Dr. Adams managed to save his life, and Isaiah fell in love with the beautiful Rose. Rose was also attracted to the earnest Isaiah, but Jason had also fallen for her, and during his brother's recovery would try to woo her. Though she didn't mind Jason, Rose had chosen Isaiah already, and though she originally held off on dating Isaiah due to her overprotective father, she took a chance and decided to reply to Isaiah's declaration of love through letter. The two courted for a year before Isaiah asked her father for her hand in marriage. The senior Ricochet had been wary of him at first, but he later relented when he saw that Isaiah was doing all he could to support his girlfriend in her career, and later accepted him into the family.

Rose and Isaiah were married on February 15th, 1848, and after their honeymoon, they settled in Carrottop Canyon so Rose could continue her training and be close to her family. Seven months after, Rose revealed to her family that she was pregnant with their first child, and the rest excitedly awaited the arrival of her baby.

### Death and Legacy

On May 6th, 1849, Rose and Ricochet were asked by their mother to pick up an order from the town's general store. Upon leaving the store, the two were ambushed by several men, who overpowered Ricochet and began beating him up. Despite being heavily pregnant, Rose fought back against the men to defend her brother, but was shot in the head and crumbled to the floor. Ricochet was beat up by the gang and robbed of his money and valuables, as well as suffering a broken arm and leg. Despite her grave wound, she was still alive, but now was going into labor. Ricochet had wanted to get help, but Rose, knowing that her injury was fatal, refused to and concentrated on making sure that her child was born safely. With her brother by her side, Rose gave birth to a healthy daughter; she did not get to name her nor see her, as she died shortly after. Ricochet's father, who had been out of town bringing a few outlaws back, had heard of the attack and ran to his children: he found his daughter dead, and his younger son holding his granddaughter in his arms, silently crying all the while. Rose's death came a little over a month after celebrating her twenty-first birthday.

Rose's death greatly impacted her family. Ricochet's father, already an intensely private man, became even moreso as years went by, and developed an harsh, unforgiving attitude towards criminals. Rodney would later leave home a year later, and Rachel, referred to as the "wild child" of the family, would taken in Rose's daughter, whom Ricochet's aunt Rosalinda named Mireya Edwards-Rabbit. Her husband Isaiah was devastated, and a few years later would commit suicide by shooting himself, leaving his daugther without her father.

Because the family was in mourning, Ricochet's father didn't go after the outlaw immediately, but Ricochet decided to take the law into his own hands. After recovering from his injuries, he stole his father's hunting rifle and hunted down the gang leader, eventually finding him at a lake. With his father's stolen rifle in hand, he shot the outlaw in the head the same way the man did his sister. Word soon got around fast, and the outlaw's widow demanded that Ricochet stand trial. Ricochet's father intervened, explaining that he'd planned to kill the murderer, but his son beat him to it. When the judge learned the whole story, Ricochet was cleared of the charge and spared prison time, but the experience haunted him.  He came to the realization that taking a life was a serious matter, as the outlaw did have a family and those who loved him, despite what he'd done. In memory of his sister's life, he swore that when he became sheriff, he would do things differently than his father when it came to criminals: he would never kill them, no matter what they do to him or his loved ones, instead letting the law handle their fate.

Since her death, the family would gather every year on the anniversary of her death to remember her, and put a bouquet of pink roses on her gravestone; they have followed this tradition for a little over fifteen years without fail.

Ricochet later named his second daughter Rosemarie Rabbit after her, due to her bearing an uncanny resemblance to her late aunt. Her surviving daughter, Mireya, would later carry on her dream profession as a nurse in her mother's honor.

## Trivia

* Rose is one of many characters created by iheartgod175's friend Vulaan Kulaas.
* Rose's very first mention was in Vulaan Kulaas' three-shot story *Powerful Friendship, Iron Bond*, which, while seen as a non-canon "special" of *Blazin' Trails*, has had some elements drawn from it to add to the main canon.
* Rose's death and its impact on the family is detailed in the short *A Rose By Any Other Name*.
* Due to being one of Ricochet's siblings, Rose has a role in the miniseries *The Life and Times of Ricochet Rabbit .*