RJ and JR (with character bios/story)

On the left we have Roy-Jack (or RJ, as he prefers). He is a creature similar to the Things (of John Carpenter's "The Thing", and by extension also Matthijs van Heijningen's 2011 prequel of the same name): A colony of gene-shifting cells capable of learning new configurations of DNA and able to mix-and-match their genetics to attain any form that's advantageous to them. The proper name for their species is Este-Svhayetv ("ehs-teh Sah-hay-eht-ah" means "imitation person" in Muskogee), but he is going to claim to be a Skinwaker, as that's as close as people of this era will understand as to what he really is. Long ago, when life on Earth was still confined to microbes floating around in the oceans, an asteroid struck RJ's ship, smashing it deep into the Earth's crust. With no life forms to assimilate or consume, the colony entered suspended animation. Millions of years later, in the old west, deep within a gold mine, some miners cut into an odd rock, that bled a cobalt blue fluid into the mine floor. The fluid quickly formed into a mass of snake-like creatures and attacked the nearest miner, Roy Stephenson. The rest of the miners fled and reported the attack. A local gunslinger, Jack Wellisdry, tried his hand at exterminating the "monster of the mine", which had now taken on Roy's form. He learned the hard way that bullets just anger this creature, and became the second individual that was assimilated. Drawing from a combination of the 2 men's minds, a new intelligence was formed. Roy-Jack, a canid of indeterminate species equally ambiguous alignment. The townsfolk begged for help from the aid of a bounty hunter who was staying in town...

On the right, we have Jason Riktor (or JR). JR is a rather disheveled coyote who seems to be in his mid 30s. He is, in fact, much older. JR was born to the Yvhuce clan over 75 years prior to RJ's discovery. For most of his life, he worked alongside the other tribal members as a farmer and fisherman. In the summer of his 35th year, he was falsely accused of killing another tribal member, that he'd had a fight with previously. He was banished from the tribe and changed his name. But not before he was cursed with the inability to die. One may think that immortality wouldn't be much of a curse, but the only true benefit that it gives JR is a supernatural protection from disease and aging. His body can be horribly mangled, or even completely destroyed and his soul will not be able to enter the afterlife. Instead, his body will slowly regenerate (1 cubic inch a week) until it can properly function again, and then he will come back to life. His mind will have blacked-out at the moment of "death". He can, however, regenerate the connective tissues between severed chunks of flesh, if they're put back into place, overnight. If he were to be buried, he would only survive revival to suffocate, and then "die" again until someone digs up his body. He can still starve or become dehydrated, too. Over the decades, he has worked as a general laborer, until he could afford a good pair of guns. Then, he trained until he became a good shot with them. Then, he began taking on jobs as a bounty hunter and mercenary. Every so often, he trades in his current pair of guns for something better, and has to re-train himself to deal with them, to maintain his shooting skills. Though right-handed, he has lost his right hand a few times and has trained rather extensively with his left hand, to compensate for such situations. He also carries a rifle, a machete, and a large hunting knife similar in size to a bowie knife. One of his bandoliers is for his pistols and the other is for his rifle. He is the guy the townsfolk begged to try and take down RJ.

So, there's the background. RJ will find that he can't assimilate JR, and JR can't kill him. So, they sort of strike up a partnership. JR's main job as a bounty hunter means that he often crosses paths with badguys, who won't be missed if RJ gets hungry. And RJ can use JR as a source of income and a guide to this strange world. Also, RJ can make sure that JR doesn't end up in a hole in the ground. I'm assuming they're out in the California or Arazona desert.

I had originally planned on JR just being another of RJ's victims, but got attached to him as I was drawing him. So, I gave him a name and worked up a way for him to survive the encounter. At some point, I'm going to color this, and work up some more pictures of them. I may later do some stuff with them in other historical eras, modern times, and the future. I want to give JR a duster and proper equipment. For the purposes of this pic, I'll say that he was being too rushed to grab his rifle and blades from inside the house. He was likely helping someone fix a fence for a free meal. He sold his duster for water and jerky.