Et Cetera

Et Cetera (えとせとら, Etosetora) is an manga written and illustrated by Tow Nakazaki. It was licensed in English by Tokyopop. The first volume was released on August 2004; the final volume was published in April 2007.

Plot
Mingchao is an orphaned Chinese girl living in an alternate version of the American West. When her grandfather passes away, she inherits the Eto gun, a strange-looking weapon that at first appears broken. On her way home one day, she finds a priest unconscious out in the desert, and so she decides to rescue him. The priest introduces himself as Baskerville, and he becomes curious about her gun. As she tries to hand it to him to let him see it, the gun falls into her rabbit stew. At that moment they are confronted by a bandit who threatens to kill them, but Mingchao uses the Eto gun to shoot him, not realizing the gun was functional. Baskerville notices how the bullet hopped around like a rabbit before hitting the bandit, and believes this gun is something special.

Thus begins a journey that reveals the many mysteries of the Eto gun, a weapon that uses the "essences" of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac to fire its bullets. The bullets mimic the behavior of each animal, making the Eto gun the most powerful gun in the West. It doesn’t take long for it to catch the attention of bandits and criminals, and most notably the Syndicate, an underground organization that deals in narcotics. As Mingchao learns more about the Eto gun, it becomes apparent this family heirloom has a dark history, and so she travels across the country to discover the truth behind its creation. Along the way, she and Baskerville befriend a fanatic gun collector, two Native Americans, and an enemy turned ally. Their road is paved with adventure, heartache and betrayal, and the joys of friendship. In the end, Mingchao must make a difficult choice: Protect her newfound friends, or protect what she once thought was lost—the last living member of her family.