Melissa Starkweather

Adopted from Diane Steelclaw:

* Cheyenne Steelclaw-Rabbit
* Catori Steelclaw-Rabbit
* Azar Steelclaw-Rabbit

**Melissa Starkweather** is a grey-furred rabbit. Hailing from San Antonio, Texas, she originally worked as the postmistress of Gopher Gulch, and later became a teacher in several towns, namely Carrottop Canyon, Ricochet's hometown. She had a liaison withRicochet Rabbit, but broke it off to both pursue a new career and another relationship. Eleven years after that, she would reconnect with and fall in love with the sheriff again. Though she was intended to debut in the original *Blazin' Trails,* she was relegated to a secondary character in the story’s final chapter. Similar to Denise Falconeri, however, she would ascend to secondary character status in the series’ remake, *Blazin’ Trails Redux*.

## Personality

Described as the “cool to everyone’s hot”, Melissa is what many consider to be the ideal Westerner’s wife: polite, industrious, motherly, soft-spoken and charming, with an inner strength brought about from living in both the city and the country. Indeed, while Melissa is all of these things, similar to Denise, she has a tomboyish streak that appears every once in a while—and when she fully emerges from her shell years later, she’s revealed to be a force of nature on par with Ricochet himself. She has a huge heart, and according to Ricochet, “will take in anyone and anything that so much as looks at ‘er with big eyes”; as such, Ricochet would build the Rabbit family ranch for her, joking that “now she can take in the whole town”. Her large heart is the main reason why she worked hard to build a good relationship with Lucky, and why she didn’t hesitate to adopt the Steelclaw children once she heard of Diane’s story. Part of her popularity in Carrottop Canyon stems from her efforts in the community, particularly where she helps older people, widows, and orphans. She lives by the scripture, “What you do to the least of these, you do to me.” She is also heavily involved in helping rehabilitate criminals from prison, and despite her failed romance with Curtis, still does this long after she married Ricochet.

Due to her mother’s forceful upbringing, Melissa suffers from anxiety and indecisiveness, and is often second-guessing herself and her decisions, which can often lead to problems. She carries survivor's guilt due to the death of her brother William, who she felt that she couldn't protect, and tends to fall to bouts of self-pity due to her indecisiveness. In later years, especially when she reconnects with Ricochet, however, she began to gain more confidence in herself and began to make more decisions for herself, which later led to her standing up to her strict mother, and being an anchor for her and Ricochet's family during the crisis with Drag-a-Long and Red Scorpion. Being far more reserved unlike most of the women in town, she can be somewhat prudish, and is sometimes embarrassed to share details of her romantic life with other women, unlike the Falconeris. However, she isn't wholly above using her feminine charms to distract other men. While having a large heart is both her strength and flaw, she will not hesitate to cut a person from her life if she figures that they’re using her or others she loves.

While she’s not a spitfire like Denise, Rachel or Roxanne, it should be said, though, that she's no helpless girl. Due to spending some time in the Ozark mountain country as a girl, she’s pretty handy with a shotgun, and she's pretty shrewd, often able to outsmart criminals or turn them against each other with her words. For what she lacks in strength, she makes up for in brains, which she is rather proud of. She is slower to anger than most of her friends, but when truly furious she is a force who puts even Ricochet on edge.

## History

### Early Life

Melissa was born to a modest family in San Antonio, Texas. She was the second child of Serena Starkweather and Alfred Starkweather; she had an older sister, Eleanor Starkweather and a younger brother, William Starkweather, whom she affectionately nicknamed "Willy". Growing up, she had an adventurous streak and loved to explore the outdoors. When she was six years old, she was enrolled in school alongside her older sister Eleanor. Early on, she developed an aptitude for math and reading, and excelled in school. By the time she was in the sixth grade, she had earned the moniker "Cottontail with Smarts", due to being one of the few rabbits in her class who actually enjoyed learning. Although she and her parents weren't fond of this initially, she came to accept it with a degree of pride later in life.

Her mother frowned upon the idea of her being a tomboy, and wished for her to grow up with dignity and grace like her older sister. To achieve this goal, she told her stories about growing up in the West, namely the ones where two of her sisters had been kidnapped and killed upon being mistaken for men. These had a reverse effect: it did bring about a ladylike change in Melissa, but at the same time brought out her cowardly, anxious side, which later transferred to a lack of decisiveness in her personal decisions in her early adult years.

When she was thirteen, she and her brother William were attacked by several rogue outlaws. Melissa fought them off with a shotgun, but they managed to shoot William, killing him instantly. The thought of losing her loved ones only intensified her fear and guilt that she was unable to save her brother.

### Tenure in Gopher Gulch

When Melissa was 19, she became an assistant teacher at her elementary school for a summer spell, while the rest of her siblings were busy working on the family farm. Melissa soon discovered her love and aptitude for teaching, and later asked her old teacher, then elderly and near the end of her life, to help her become a schoolteacher. For months afterward, Melissa worked hard at studying various subjects, including ones she had never liked a lot in school such as history, to be able to properly teach. She found herself filling in for her old teacher a lot more often, and later became a favorite at the school due to being warm and compassionate towards her students.

While her father didn't mind her teaching, as it gave her the opportunity to share her knowledge, her mother was still set on getting Melissa to fall into the traditional role of being a wife and mother. Melissa did love children, but she wanted to find the right person to settle with, as well as make her own living for a while instead of falling to the whims of a man. They clashed over this frequently, and having enough, Melissa decided to leave home, heading for a town farther from San Antonio where she could work in peace.

That town ended up being Gopher Gulch which back then had a high crime rate. She was looking forward to working as a teacher there, but they already had a teacher at the schoolhouse and she wasn't interested in giving up her position to a newcomer. Melissa decided to find something to "occupy herself" with, and looked for other work, including working for the postmaster for a short time. Her organizational skills were quickly recognized, and she was hired to become the new postmistress, becoming the first female in the town who had yet to hold that position.

Although she wasn't fond of it at first, Melissa later took her job seriously enough as her teaching, which was her main goal. For the next two years, she developed a reputation of being hardworking, dependable and reliable, although due to her dedication was known to be a little too serious.

### Ricochet Rabbit and Other Romances

During her second year stay in Gopher Gulch, she met the town sheriff, Ricochet Rabbit, when he came to clear up a mistake that his deputy had made on an order. Like everyone else in town, she had heard of his legendary speed and his captures of nearly seventy outlaws, and had thought that those were impressive. She hadn't thought much of him other than that he was shorter than she'd thought he'd be, but Ricochet was smitten with her at first sight, to the point where he'd made himself look like an idiot in front of her. After their first meeting, Ricochet found practically every reason to visit her, mainly so he could flirt with her. Melissa was slightly annoyed by him at first, but later welcomed the attention since nobody had really paid attention to her in school.

Despite people claiming she was "the sheriff's woman", Melissa often kept Ricochet at bay. It wasn't that she didn't like Ricochet at all, but she knew that Ricochet's passion at the time was his job and his one true love. She had heard that Ricochet had been a ladies' man in the past, but there was a rumor going around that his passion for his job had ruined his one chance to get married, and the girl and her family broke off all contact with him (this turned out to be true, as Melissa would later meet the fiance in question, Denise Falconeri, when she returned to Ricochet). Despite her affection for Ricochet, she wasn't about to become the next girl to be loved and abandoned by him.

Around this time, she met another rabbit named Curtis Jones , who was tall, muscular and very charming. In contrast to Ricochet, he was unattached to his job and was one of the few bad boy types that she'd found irresistable in school, but never went after because of her mother's disapproval. Curtis not only swept her off her feet, but also brought out her old tomboyish side, and she often did daring things, such as prowling to his house at night in outlaw territory, a stunt considered foolhardy at the time. She eventually left town to be with Curtis, and settled in Youngsville, which broke Ricochet's heart.

Her relationship with him lasted for only a year, though, for he ended up having another girl on the side, which Melissa discovered one night when she came home and found the two together. He later ended their relationship, which left Melissa heartbroken. For a while after Curtis, she attempted to find relationships with others, but nothing ever lasted for long.

### Teaching Days

Melissa later received word that the elderly teacher at the town's school was dying, and that she was considering naming Melissa as her successor. Although she was unhappy in the town, seeing a position open up for her dream job changed her mind about moving. She took up the position and from the first week, she was a success. She took over teaching duties for the next few years, but was later replaced by another teacher halfway into her third year by the town hall, whose many members didn't want a "cottontail" teaching their kids.

This, however, didn't deter her in the slightest. Bolstered by her job, Melissa decided to move to another town and seek a new position as a schoolteacher. This town was Carrottop Canyon, which unbeknownst to her then was Ricochet's hometown. She later became acquainted with Ricochet's father, who was the sheriff of the town, although she did not tell him of her relationship to Ricochet, and got to know a few of his family members. Melissa eventually took over as the teacher of Carrottop Canyon' schoolhouse, and also worked a few odd jobs here and there, including helping a Chinese family run their laundry store.

### Returning Feelings

Close to twelve years later, Melissa settled into Carrottop Canyon well and became known as a top-notch schoolteacher. She had sought a few new relationships, although none of them panned out for long. Her longest one, lasting for four months, was with a rabbit named Herman, who had wanted to marry her, but was forced to break up with her due to his parents not approving of her.

On her way to church one morning, she spotted Ricochet among his large family, heading to the graveyard together. She didn't know what was going on, but she didn't want to intrude, and she especially didn't want him to know she was living in town. Asking around lead her to learn that Carrottop Canyon was his hometown, and he rarely visited due to being caught up in his work. Although she'd resolved not to see him, she couldn't help but be curious. However, by the time she'd worked up her courage to visit, he had left. Seeing him again had not only stirred up the need to apologize to him, but also a yearning that she'd ignored when he'd first started to flirt with her. Months after his appearance in town, she tried to bury it by dating other men, but the more she tried to forget him, the more he became ingrained in her mind.

Eventually, she went to his father and told him everything about her relationship to Ricochet. His father was somewhat upset at this, especially since Ricochet had told him about how Melissa had refused him, but Ricochet's mother, Regina Rabbit, came to her defense, saying that she too had a similar issue when she'd first met Ricochet's father. She urges her to go after her son, saying that she's noticed how he hasn't been truly happy in years. Bolstered by this, Melissa took her advice, and decided to leave for Hoop 'n Holler when the opportunity arose.

### Reunion With Ricochet

Melissa saw her opportunity to reunite with Ricochet during the spring, when the town of Hoop 'n Holler was having its annual Spring Fling. She ordered a dress a week ahead of time, and then traveled by stagecoach to Hoop 'n Holler. She didn't write to Ricochet letting him know of her arrival; rather, she wanted it to be a surprise. The trip filled her with trepidation, however, as she didn't know how Ricochet was going to act towards her or what he'd say.

At the same time, Ricochet was thinking of her, and he was in a sour mood due to his memories. His deputy Droop-a-Long Coyote offered to be his wingman for the evening, to which Ricochet scoffed. Unbeknownst to either, Droop-a-Long spotted Melissa checking into the hotel while he was picking up his tuxedo, and was arranging things so the two could meet.

The night of the dance, Melissa had gathered the courage to go up to the porch of Ricochet's office, only for her nerves to get the best of her and hide behind the office until he left. Sighing, she made her way to the party, careful to use the other entrance so he wouldn't see her. That evening, she made small chat with some of the guests, and became fast friends with Denise Falconeri, who had been Ricochet's ex-girlfriend. She later reunited with Droop-a-Long, who told her that Ricochet, although he was chatting with Jeb Forrest and his old friend Quick Draw McGraw, would eventually like a partner to dance with when it was time for the waltz. Melissa at first wanted to refuse, but then she realized that she could use their help. After letting Denise in on the plan, Droop-a-Long set things in motion for the two of them to meet again.

Just as Droop-a-Long had predicted, the time of the waltz came around and Ricochet quickly found himself without a partner. Droop-a-Long told Ricochet that there was another girl who'd come to the party and she was without a date as well. Ricochet, annoyed and slightly bemused by Droop-a-Long's attempts to play wingman, decided to humor him and went to search for the girl. When he saw Melissa, he was stunned into silence, and likewise so was she. Neither of them had time to back out, however, as the dance had gotten under way and Droop-a-Long and Denise had disappeared. Ricochet, deciding not to be rude, asked Melissa if she'd like to dance, and she accepted. It was rather awkward, considering that they hadn't spoken to each other in years only to meet like this.

When the dance was over, Ricochet approached Melissa, and asked her flat out what she was doing here in town and what brought her here. Melissa finally admitted that she had come to see him to both apologize and to tell him that she was ready for a serious relationship with him, if he would want her. She told him that tonight wasn't the only time she'd thought of him; it had been months before, when she'd seen him in Carrottop Canyon, and had even asked his parents for permission to pursue him. Fighting tears, and terrified from his lack of response, she took off running to her hotel room, cursing herself for what had seemed like a stupid decision. She decided then that she was going to return to Carrottop Canyon first thing in the morning.

The next morning, however, Ricochet surprised her: as she was waiting outside for her stagecoach, he ran up to her and grabbed her, holding her so tight she couldn't breathe. Before she could do anything, he told her that she didn't need to ask if he would want her; he'd always wanted her, and despite all the past relationships he'd had, he'd never stopped loving her. His confession brought Melissa to tears, but right before she could kiss him, Droop-a-Long cut in, stating that they needed to bring it inside as they were causing a scene in the middle of the street. Melissa changed her mind then, and decided to stay for that day; as she was walking back in, she secretly thanked Droop-a-Long for his help, to which the coyote gratefully received.

## Abilities

Melissa is quite handy with a gun, and knows how to use a shotgun and a rifle very well. She's also said to have "a mean hand" according to Ricochet, implying that she can hit people hard enough to stun them momentarily. Similar to Ricochet, she also tends to bite people who hold her hostage.

## Relationships

### Ricochet Rabbit

One of Melissa's closest relationships is her relationship with Ricochet Rabbit. Originally rejecting him due to the rumors about his botching a marriage, she later came to appreciate his attention and greatly regretted not being with him when she had the chance. Although she was worried that he wouldn't take her back, he quickly proved her wrong when he stopped her from leaving town, saying that he never stopped loving her. In the beginning, she was very worried that he was still angry at her for leaving him all those years ago. He tells her that what she did hurt him back then, but what mattered was that they were together now. Melissa deeply loves Ricochet, and is very concerned about his well-being, as she is now front-and-center to his job's toll on him; despite worrying for his safety and warning him about running out and getting hurt repeatedly, she stands by his side, ready to offer support when needed. She was a little embarrassed about being known as "the sheriff's woman" around town, as she didn't know that the whole town had been involved in Ricochet trying to get a relationship.

Despite her leaving, or maybe because of her leaving, their relationship is built more on loyalty and trust, two things that both of them had to learn the hard way that it is earned instead of handed out; frequent communication is also key, as the two are similar in that they need others in order to get on with life. The only real enemy in this relationship is both Ricochet and Melissa have passionate and occasionally obsessive devotions to their respective jobs, especially later when they have a family.

She nicknames him "Ricky" by default, and his nickname for her is "Lissa", as he knows that she has a dislike for the nickname "Mellie", due to it making her feel like a child.

### Serena Starkweather

Melissa has a strained relationship with her mother, Serena, due to her mother's attitudes towards her growing up and even after becoming an adult, feeling that she'll never be pleased with her efforts. While she still loves her mother, she does get more vocal about certain issues such as her friendship with Droop-a-Long, her relationships with Ricochet and Denise (both of which her mother disapproves of) and her profession, which is why the two of them hardly talk. In a way, it's parallel to Denise's relationship with her mother, Yolanda Falconeri, as they also clash due to their personal differences.

### Droop-a-Long Coyote

Melissa is good friends with Ricochet's deputy, Droop-a-Long Coyote. Unlike most of the people in Gopher Gulch, she actually liked him from the start instead of immediately hating him because of his species. Even after Melissa left Ricochet and later came back, he was still friendly with her and believed that she would make Ricochet happy, although unlike what happened with Bunny Hug, he did warn her outright that if she broke his heart a second time that he wouldn't forgive her. She nicknames him "Droopy" by default, and he usually calls her "Miss Melissa", but also is known to call her "Mellie", a nickname that she doesn't even let Ricochet call her by, but makes an exception for him because of his formal tone with everyone. Droop-a-Long likes to tease Ricochet about this, much to his annoyance. He's also happy that his girlfriend gets along with her as well. Likewise, she respects his close friendship with Ricochet and even jokes that she has no reason to be jealous of Denise stealing Ricochet since the only person who'd do so would be Droop-a-Long, much to Droop-a-Long's amusement and Ricochet's embarrassment.

### Denise Falconeri

Melissa shares a good friendship with Denise Falconeri, Ricochet's ex-fiancé and Droop-a-Long's girlfriend. The two met at the Spring Fling and immediately hit it off, although Melissa was shocked to learn that the rumors of Ricochet leaving a girl at the altar were true. They like to talk about anything, including the two men in their lives and their shared concern for their well-being; it was Denise who kept Melissa from going after a dangerous criminal who left Ricochet incapacitated, and a few years later, Melissa would keep Denise from doing the same when Droop-a-Long, who went missing for two weeks, was found and heavily injured. Despite the societal differences between them, as well as their personality differences, with Denise being more energetic and Melissa being more reserved, Melissa views Denise as the sister she wished she had.

### Lucky

Melissa and Lucky didn't get off to the right foot at first; the boy was protective of his father and believed that a woman would steal him from him, found the resemblance between her and his mother eerie, and thought that she was taking to be a mother figure in his life, which wasn't what he wanted. Melissa lost her patience with Lucky a few times, but after learning about what had happened to the boy, she started to show compassion towards him, apologizing for her behavior. Although he was still wary of her, eventually he warmed up to her presence, and it would be a year later when their relationship improved for the better, especially when his real mother made her appearance in town around that time. When she and Ricochet got married, she adopted Lucky as her son as well, and Lucky started calling her "Ma", a sign that she'd earned his trust and love.

## Trivia

* Melissa is a character lifted from iheartgod175's other Western fanfic series, *The Ghost of Huckleberry Hound*, where Ricochet is a secondary character. While several traits of her character remained the same in her Blazin' Trails incarnation, there are several changes in her background:
	+ In that universe, she was Ricochet's old high school sweetheart who married a "reformed" outlaw and had a son with him, named James. She ended up getting trapped in an abusive marriage (where she implies that Curtis both beat and raped her); when Curtis starts abusing her son, she finally breaks away and asks Ricochet for help, and along their journey, she and Ricochet deal with their feelings towards each other. In *Blazin' Trails*, her relationship to Ricochet changed to where they met as adults, and although she did meet a reformed outlaw, she doesn't marry and have children until she reconciles with Ricochet.
* Ricochet was the base for Melissa's physical appearance, and early designs had them look so alike, they were confused as brother and sister.
* Vulaan Kulaas noted the similarities in both Melissa’s appearance and Serena’s appearance, as both are grey-furred, blue-eyed rabbits with fuller figures than their respective sisters. She had the idea to have Melissa and Denise be half-sisters, as it would explain why both Denise and Melissa get along so well, but iheartgod175 never added the idea in. Whether or not this will be mentioned in Redux has yet to be seen.
* Melissa adores kids, and actually wanted a large family with Ricochet. Due to complications arising with her last pregnancy with Bucky, and being told that she might risk her life if she got pregnant again, she put this dream aside. It would later come true, however, when Diane asked her to take in her three daughters.
* Her hatred of the nickname "Mellie" stems from her sister calling her this when they were kids, often patronizingly.
* Although somewhat prudish, she does have a naughty side, mostly shown when she’s around Ricochet. In Redux, she reads Droop-a-Long’s stories, and not only gave him some advice on how to clean up certain scenes, but encouraged him to keep the spicier scenes in, saying it made things interesting. It’s hinted that she may have been responsible for Roxanne and Nadia finding the coyote’s work, for she had several copies of his early drafts buried in her office.
* Melissa's Zodiac sign is Scorpio, although she doesn't have many of the traits associated with that sign.
* Her birthday is close to Quick Draw McGraw's (his birthday is on November 24th).
* Unlike Denise and Serena, who are right-handed, Melissa is left-handed. This was inspired by the common belief that left-handed people are smarter, but also inspired by iheartgod175's youngest brother, who is also left-handed.
* Melissa's blood type is B-.
* Melissa's favorite foods are cheesecake, pasta (fettuccine, cannelloni and ziti are her favorites), Chinese cuisine (egg rolls and hot and sour soup) and white chocolate. Her dislikes include anything bitter, such as dark chocolate, rutabagas and Brussel sprouts. In an ironic twist, Ricochet's second favorite vegetable happens to be rutabaga.
* Unlike Denise and Serena, she is a teetotaler, as she dislikes the taste and smell of alcohol.
* Despite her getting on Ricochet for eating junk food, an ironic favorite of hers is pizza, which in itself is considered junk food.
* Brain teasers are her main hobby.
* Blue, black and red are her favorite colors.