I have too many voices in my head.

There. I said it. It cannot be unsaid. 

Lets skip all the "Don't call me crazy or send me to the looney bin" rigamarole.  Its just not cute. 

The voices in MY head are just the characters I create for various stories or just little things that pop up. Like Tristam, from the story a couple days ago. Or the old fan characters I used to create for my favorite shows. Everyone has those Mary Sue years. I think I'll start posting some character bios on a certain day of the week. I'd like to set up a real schedule. I think I'll make that my homework for the next few days. If anyone has an opinion on it, shoot me a comment! I'd love some input. I'm thinking one original day, one poetry, one new content, one character bio, one prompt night, and something to fill the rest! Tell me what you think!

For the next couple days, I'm going to post a few short stories that tie to together, about the crew of an airship. Its another anthropomorphic story, so the main characters are animals with human traits. This story was a quick challenge piece, where a friend drew a picture during the same amount of time as I wrote this. The main character is hers.

Enjoy!

Falling Airships

“Then it was just me and my adversary, that old wind beater Prajan, way up high on that sinking ship.” Finnigan slammed his mug onto the battered table before him. “I could feel the wind pulling at me as I fought the ruthless falcon, captain of the ship I had ordered crippled. I raised my musket and fired my last bullet at the mongrel of a officer. My shot took him in the shoulder and he rushed me with a horrid roar!”

The one eyed dragon rose to his feet, bellowing at the top of his lungs. His audience of drunkards and tavern maids took a collective sharp breath. “I had already lost my trusty sword and he knocked the musket from my hand as we grappled on the doomed ship. Out the corner of my good eye, I saw my ship, the ElanVital , circling us as we fell. He kept coming for me, hacking at me with that wicked curved scimitar of his. I almost lost the tip of my snout, fella me lad, so I did! I grabbed the only thing I had to defend myself.”

He reached inside his oilskin coat and brandished a scratched and dented telescope like a dagger. “I held him off with this as long as I could, climbing to the highest spar of the ship, Prajan following me, every step of the way, slicing at me. Finally I reached the highest spot. I had nowhere else to climb! Prajan was no less than a step behind me and I could feel his hot breath on my neck as I looked up to my ship descending closer to us as Prajan’s ship lost another engine and we started to drop faster.  I turned to see that falcon reaching back to deal a death blow at me.  I jerked my hand and out like a stroke of luck shot the telescope and bashed the birdie in his beak, stunning the poor brute and knocking him off balance. I grabbed the blighter’s cape just as Beau dropped the ladder to get back aboard my ship.”

Finnigan stood to his full height and reenacted his climb up the ladder. “Rung over rung I climbed, dragging the dead weight of the senseless Prajan onto my ship and safety. Just as I got back aboard the ElanVital, the last of the engines on Prajan’s Corishta gave and she dropped like a stone to the churning sea below.” He took the last swig of his mead and patted the table. “And that’s how Praj went from being a rival captain to my ballisteer and cargo man.”

One of the tavern maids leaned over and refilled Finnigan’s mug. “What happened to the crew on the Corishta? You didn’t kill ‘em, didja Captain Finnigan?”

The airship captain gave a hearty laugh. “No, no, my pretty little canary, we got most of them back onto my ship before Praj went off his wing for a little and demanded to go down with his ship.” He looked back at the falcon standing at his side. “I knocked some sense into him with my beauty.” He patted the telescope lying on the table.

Praj nodded and raised his mug. “I learned a strong lesson that day. Can’t defend your honor if’n you’re too dead to be offended.” He drained his mug in a swig. “’Sides, what’s the point of being a pirate if you’re gonna do the honor bit? Ain’t like we’re privateers.”

Finnigan made a face. “Don’t go mentioning those nasty buggers around me. Contracted government hunters if ever was one.” He glanced out the window to see a large tortoise stumping up the stairs to the tavern. “Come Praj, seems that Rulen is here to take us back to the ElanVital.”  He swept up his goggles and oilskin gloves from the table and saluted his audience. “Ladies, gentlebeasts, I bid you a wonderful day and that your cups stay full.” Tossing a pile of coins on the table, Captain Finnigan swept out of the small tavern. Praj tipped his hat to the canary tavern maid before following his captain of three years into the streets of the floating city of Orion.

~~~

And as I've been posting poetry almost every night, I might as well post the poem I wrote, from which I drew the name of Cap'n Finnigan's airship. 

Elan Vital

Flowers tremble as the dancing breeze

curls past in euphoric whirls of delight.

Ethereal feet of zealous zephyrs prance,

blithe steps twirl round budding spring stalks,

and swells uprising to the cloud's playgrounds.

Pressing against feathered souls, it uplifts,

urging onward avian skill.

Down to earth again it spirals, drawn in

by an open veil of glass and screen. Nimble

fingers pluck at the hair of playing children

with tender disregard. Gusts of warm air mingle,

cavorting with souls, pushing past our shells,

illumining our hearts with cumulus joy.

~~~

Well, its time for me to wander the realms of Morpheus himself, m'dears. I'll chatter at you on the morrow.