Open Wardrobes

November is here, and with it comes NaNoWriMo! After spending the week thinking about backstory and so forth today I set to work. Like The Princess and the Moon I have an idea of the starting place but where it will go...


Well, wherever it goes you, faithful readers, shall be the first to see it, for I've decided to post each day my progress (which hopefully will help ensure that I actually finish a draft, whether it's any good or not, as it would be cruel to get you invested and then leave it hanging).


So, for better or worse, here is today's work: the first ~4300 works of the (tentatively titled) Red Foxx and the Heart of Destiny.



In all the lands of the Five Kingdoms and the islands of the Coral Seas there are no tales more marvelous than those of the pirate Red Foxx. From the Mountain Kingdom to the Island of the Eight Wonders the name of Red Foxx is known, and whether loved or feared all will fall silent before even the least of stories of this fell pirate. But of all such tales none inspires more wonder than the Tale of Red Foxx and the Heart of Destiny. For it is at the beginning of this tale that Red Foxx came into his own upon the death of his father, the Captain Grey Foxx who was the most famous of all his line, eclipsed only in death by his beloved child. For seven centuries the line of Foxx, passed from captain to captain, father to son, had undisputed mastery of the Coral Seas all all the islands therein. Some said that the islands had been gained in bloody conquest, while others maintained that each island had submitted itself to the first mighty Captain Foxx of its free will for mutual protection. Whatever tale be most true none can now say, and certainly in all the misty years between enough captains have arisen to prove each side right. But whatever the truth of the beginning, the captain who bore the name of Foxx ruled an empire as mighty as any king or emperor, enough so that the Island Kingdom was counted among the Five and tales spread throughout the known world of the pirate king whose throne sailed unchallenged across whatever waters he so chose. All who saw the banner of the silver fox on black made way and let Captain Foxx and all who followed him, these brave and bloody soldiers of the seas, pass unhindered.
And when the wayfaring days of the Captain came to a close, be it through sickness or a weariness of a life without firm earth beneath the feet, the Captain would call his son to him and place the captain's hat upon his head, the very same worn by the first sailor of their line, and declare him the new master of the sea, captain of all vessels that sailed under their flag and lord of each island that paid them tribute. When sudden death did not forbid such ceremonies took place on the Sacred Isle, the birthplace of the first Foxx some said, but certainly the first island on which their kingdom took root. Only the pirates of Captain Foxx knew the location of this island and death fell without hesitation on any who breathed a word of it to those outside, bound as each was by secret blood-oaths. So all captains who sailed under the silver fox would gather to the Sacred Isle to watch as a new Captain was born as his father gave to him also the token of his office, the heirloom of Foxx, an opal black as death and cracked with silver: the Captain's Stone. Men whispered that the first Captain Foxx had been part sorcerer, akin to the Sorcerer of the Stone Kingdom, and had breathed into the stone many strange properties. It turned blood-red when enemies were near, some men claimed, and so Captain Foxx could never be taken unawares, while others believed it made the wearer invisible, in the manner of the ancient stones of old, possessed as they were of such magic. But all knew that never before had its bearer been slain so long as they wore it and the fear of it built for the line of Foxx a loyalty unquestioned. And once the new heir wore it for the first time he and he alone was Captain and even his father must give way to his will. There on the shores of the Sacred Isle each captain would swear upon their swords fealty to the new Captain Foxx and return to their own dominions taking the authority of the Captain with them.
So it was that in the year 1136 by the reckoning of the Five Kingdoms that the Captain Grey Foxx lay dying, his only child (for the old Foxx had come late to fatherhood) sitting beside his sick bed, tending to his ailing father as best he skill allowed. Grey Foxx had ruled over the Island Kingdom in the Coral Seas for nigh on thirty years and now lay old and sick, old at least in the reckoning of sea folk who seldom see themselves past fifty years, and full of fear for his ending. Fear not for himself, for he had lived faithfully by the code of his fathers and would join them in their graves untroubled by what had past. Grey Foxx feared instead for the future of his kingdom and the troubles his son would now inherit. But of such things father and son had spoken already until they themselves grew weary of it and now waited under the growing light of the new day for the old Captain's passing. Red Foxx had already the captain's hat, though it sat nearby and Red Foxx's long red hair lay uncovered, pulled back in the likeness of a fox's tail, as was his custom. No, while captain's hat had passed on the Captain's Stone still sat in Grey Foxx's hand, not yet ready for the passing until the Captain felt his last moments upon him. They sat in a cabin upon the island's eastern side, made in preparation for this time when the Captain wished to see as the Bright Ship came from the east to take his soul to other shores. The island-folk passed down many such myths, if myths they indeed be, and believed that good fortune would follow you after life if you looked into the dawning sun and saw it in the Bright Ship coming to you on the day of your death. The sun now still waited to break the horizon and Red Foxx sat with his father, praying the Ship would wait at least another day. Their vigil was joined only by Red Foxx's first mate, Jat Stevens, who remained in order to bear witness to the passing when it occurred. Jat had served as Red's first mate for as long as the younger Foxx had taken a ship to captain under his father. It was most common for the new Captain Foxx to take over his father's flagship, forsaking his own vessel and even former crew. However, it was well known that Red Foxx planned so such keep with tradition and would instead would sail his own vessel without changing of the crew so much as a man. Strangely Grey Foxx showed no sign he wished it otherwise, despite the religious devotion he had shown in preserving this tradition with his own father. And so Jat Stevens stood to inherit the highest position in all the fleet, save his Captain alone. He sat quietly in the corner of the cabin whittling something Red knew not what.
"My son." The old man opened his eyes again and Red took his hand, relieved to know he had not yet departed. The opal closed in Grey's hand though Red felt it cold even still.
"Yes, Father?"
"You must swear, before I die."
Jat looked up and stopped working on hearing this, for he knew what it heralded.
"I am loath to swear such an oath, even to you, Father," Red answered, more harshly than he would have wished, "as you are well familiar."
"I did not think you would yet deny me this last boon, I who have given you everything."
"I am not ungracious, Father, but it is not my fashion to swear death upon any man."
"Do you think it an unjust decree? I am still Captain." And he clenched the stone all the more tightly.
"Is it a decree, Captain?" And he too tightened his grip as they each retreated behind the fortress walls of their mutual stubbornness. Jat waited. More than once he had to keep them from blows on just this subject. But the moment passed and the old Captain relaxed, sorrow returning to him.
"No, my son, I would not now have this promise from you unwilling. But it would ease my mind to know you would not rest without this thing reclaimed."
"I have sworn a thousand oaths and more to do all in my power to find it," Red declared. "Yet this is not enough."
"It is not enough!" Grey Foxx made to sit up, but his ailment prevented it. "Not for the wounds we have born as a people and a kingdom. It is not enough for the sacrilege of defiling our Sacred Isle, as these our enemies have done. But perhaps you are too young to remember..."
"Think not, my father, that even in death you may use my youth against me! For I know from your own lips all the sins our enemies committed upon these shores. I will avenge thee, of this you may be certain. All wrongs shall be made right, of this I swear again, and again if you must have it so. What then still lacks in your eyes? It may be indeed that the Admiral's son may fall to my sword, for I bear him no love, but my heart misgives me to swear this man's death even if all else you desire should be accomplished. What then do you fear I shall leave undone?"
Grey Foxx fell deeper in his bed and saw with his mind's eye his deepest fear which remained yet hidden to all. If the old Admiral had known and had passed that knowledge to his son... Better the Admiral's son should fall and Red Foxx be spared this secret.
A pain shook him and Grey Foxx unwillingly found his eyes staring into the now rising sun. For there he saw, or so it is said, the shape of the Bright Ship sailing towards him! He gripped his son's arm and addressed him now with a sudden frenzy.
"Swear now, my son! In moments it shall be too late!"
Jat leaned forward to look out the window himself and caught nothing but the new sun's first rays, though he swore evermore to men that he saw the reflection of the Bright Ship in the old Captain's eyes. Red Foxx saw it also as he took in his father's gaze.
"Swear! By the Isle and the Heart itself, swear now!"
"It cannot be undone if do," Red said and trembled, for he knew he could not now refuse his father's final wish.
"Swear and ease my parting." Grey Foxx still held the Captain's Stone in his fingers, growing now ever colder.
"If it can be of any help to thee now, I..." Red Foxx's heart nearly gave out, for such a great trepidation of this oath came upon him that he feared some great loss should it be accomplished. Yet the Ship grew ever brighter in his father's eyes and against all reason he continued. "I swear, by the Sacred Isle and all its treasures that I shall pursue the death of Lemuel Drake, son of the Admiral of the Ruined Kingdom, or his heirs if he die not by my hand, until this deed be done and our honor avenged, or until my own death come upon me. Let me not break this oath, lest the Kingdom of the Isles fall and come to ruin and the line of Foxx itself fail."
"So you have sworn," Grey Foxx breathed, relieved at last, and he let the Stone slip into his son's hand. "My son, take this Stone and be now the Captain. I die in peace."
"My father..." But Grey Foxx had gone and the image Red saw of the hallowed vessel had vanished as well. And so he wept. Jat bowed his head, shedding a tear of his own for the late Captain, for he had served on the ship of Grey Foxx with Red when they both were young and had loved the Captain dear enough himself. When at last Red Foxx's grief was spent he took the Stone and placed the chain which held it around his neck. Jat rose. Red tucked the Stone underneath his shirt and buttoned his coat tight, despite the growing warmth outside. He stood, at last placing his father's hat upon his own head.
"What's your will, Captain?" Jat asked. Red did not answer as he strode quickly from the cabin to lose himself in the sound of the morning surf. Jat stuck his knife into his belt and followed, the chunk of wood he had been carving idling forgotten. The morning had dawned bright and the east sun burned Jat's eyes as he searched for the new Captain and found him standing nearby in the shallow seawater, watching the sun continue its upward track. Red stood bound tightly in coat and trousers wearing thick leather boots that rose to his knees. He seemed to Jat already back on the ship's deck and not thinking at all of what surrounded him.
"The Arrow's ready for ye, Captain," Jat said, "whenever you choose to set sail. You'll be wanting to meet the fleet first, o'er at Harbarrow?" Red nodded. "Ar, they should have been here, to witness the passing themselves," Jat continued, "all the other captains. It's a moment they should be witness to."
"You know full well it is best they were not," answered Red Foxx, "and for more reason than this Isle's loss of safety."
Jat spat. The salt air tasted too strong for him this morning. "Do ye think I be afraid, Captain, if all were out? The Black Arrow be the flagship now, and we the Captain's crew."
"Warn the crew to be doubly vigilant now. My father worked hard to ensure this succession and I would not have it undone now."
"Aye, Captain."
Jat looked down the beach to where the Black Arrow lay moored, waiting only now for their arrival. Red Foxx had yet to move but at last he turned to look at Jat direct.
"See to the ship, Jat. We wait only for my father's proper burial before we again take up the chase."
"Aye, Captain," Jat said. This was the Captain more to his liking. To leave their pursuit half-finished, even to bury the old Captain, had been a diversion Jat had suffered grudgingly and only out of necessity. He hurried down to the beach to the ship and at the sight of him those who had been waiting began their march to claim the old Captain's body. Red, for his part, did not wish to be present for such ceremonials and turned inland towards the caverns.
The Sacred Isle, long held by the line of Foxx, had become their burial ground for past Captains. The rest of the sea folk, not a people much disposed to think of the hereafter, were laid to rest at sea with naught but a cannonball at their feet to make them no more a trouble to the living. The Bright Side could bear them hence as well from such depths, they said, and being bond to the sea in life most were content to join the sea in death. Not so the great Captains of the sea! They remained on the Isle, hidden in a deep place, to guard what had been their folk's greatest treasure. Grey Foxx would be, Red realized, the first such Captain to be laid here to rest with that treasure missing.
Red Foxx indeed had no great memory of that day, for he had been but a child and could not remember the sight of the Isle before the defilement had taken place. For seven centuries the followers of Foxx, pirates called by many, had held their realm unchallenged by all. But in the days of Grey Foxx's youth the River Kingdom, which had spent those same centuries gazing longingly into the Coral Sea and lusting after the wealth and wonders there, had grown in might and desire and began to build ships the likes of which even the Island Kingdom had never known. Tall ships and strong, with many sails and five hundred men a piece, these vessels grew in number on the waters of the Coral Seas and ventured further and further into the Island realm. Their ruler, the King Ottotorius, had inflamed the other kingdoms with words of war and weaved such cunning tales that he enticed them all to join his cause and rid the seas of the pirate-folk for all time. The Forest Kingdom gave him trees beyond count while the Mountain Kingdom forged for him cannons no other ships could withstand. Even the Sorcerer in his Stone Kingdom lent knowledge and aid, believing the cruel lies told of Foxx and his men. So they came, in the name of liberation, but in truth bloodthirsty for conquest and seething with greed for treasure. For what drove Ottotorius most were the tales of the gems bred deep in the Sacred Isle, of which even the Captain's Stone was not the greatest.
Ottotorius coveted most of all the Heart of Destiny, hidden by the first Captain Foxx in the same Isle where he had discovered it seven centuries before. Red Foxx did not remember ever having witnessed it, but from his father he knew of it well enough to know it at a glance. Black as the Captain's stone and larger than a man's fist this great opal was the gem of gems, the most potent of stones. Within it burned fires of all colors, and the whispered tales that infected Ottotorius' ear told of the many Captains that had gazed deep and seen therein many things that were and things that still had yet to pass.
Red Foxx walked through what had been the chief dwelling of the Island fleet, here on the Isle only the captains who served under his sires could find. Black and burnt it now was and not a one of the buildings razed those many years ago had been rebuilt. There had been a traitor, that much Grey Foxx and his father had known, but the method of the treachery had never been discovered. Using their secret ways against them Admiral Drake had taken King Ottotorius' fleet and stormed the Sacred Isle, the first to ever commit such treason, and brought it to ruin. But the most deadly blow came when King Ottotorius himself ventured deep into the caverns under the still boiling mountain, where the Captain's lay watching, and took the Heart of Destiny for his own. A bloody war ensued between the two fleets, from island to island and wave to wave as the Island pirates sought to reclaim their own. Unable in his impatience to learn how to use the Heart of Destiny on his own, King Ottotorius sent it away with a secret messenger to hide it forever from the eyes of Captain Foxx the Elder. Even Admiral Drake knew not what place his king had devised to send it.
Yes, Red Foxx, knew all these stories as if he had indeed seen these events with his own eyes. He walked the ancient paths that led into the living mountain, whose crown still steamed with displeasure at the interlopers. It grew hot as Red Foxx ventured underground into the tombs of his forefathers. Rivers of liquid rock flowed underneath the mountain and gave a rusty light to all within. Here, in tunnels and crevices dark and barely explored was found the Heart of Destiny, the Captain's Stone, and all such gems of virtue as the pirate-folk possessed. Red Fox himself had spent many days here seeking such stones and now each member of his crew bore one in secret, imbued with a singular virtue, and he guessed not even his father had known this secret. But Red Foxx came not to think of his own youthful days, but to remind himself of the burdens his father's death now lay upon him alone. In the Captains' Tombs a place already prepared waiting for Captain Grey Foxx, in the deepest of all the caverns, tall and broad and ready for a hundred more captains to join those here already sleeping. Red stopped at last before the first tomb where the Heart of Destiny should have lain in the hands of his sire's effigy. Here the Captains of old came when they required a foresight only that stone could provide, yet now that he needed it most Red Foxx could only stare at the empty grasp of broken stone fingers, wrested away by bitter enemies. Crossing away Red saw where these same enemies had blackened the tombs with fire in their lust for even greater treasures. The scent of gunpowder still lingered, he noticed, but here at least here the greed of King Ottotorius had proved his ruin. One blast, that was all that had been managed before they awoke the Isle itself and all but perished in its almighty wrath. The Kingdom of the Shipwrights was the the Ruined Kingdom now and in that thought Red Foxx found the first taste of vengeance.
Standing beside the gaping tomb of his father Red Foxx lost all memory of time until his father's body joined him, resting on the strong shoulders of Red's crew. Wrapped in their garments as tightly as Captain Red they sweated with their labor but gave no complaint. It was their honor to carry a Captain Foxx thus. Red Foxx looked on them with pride. He himself had chosen each of them, and though his father had questioned at first his method in doing so, they had proven themselves true. Young, spry and lightly built were they all, more to the appearance of boys they men, but such looks belied the courage with which they fought the remnants of the Ruined Kingdom or indeed any that threatened their islands. In silence they bore Grey Foxx, King and Captain, and set his body in the open tomb. The name already engraved, together with Red Foxx they lifted it down upon the Captain and sealed it. Red Foxx stared down upon the name and the finality of it all reached him.
"Your orders, Captain?" one of his crew asked. Red Foxx remained still. "Captain?"
"Return to the ship," Red said at last. "We set sail for Harbarrow within the hour."
"Aye, Captain." And they departed, leaving Red Foxx alone again. He took a last look at his father's tomb, and the empty fingers of their first ancestor, and remembered all the oaths given to his father. The last such oath made his heart grim for he felt still some evil would come of it. Retracing his steps Red Foxx left the tombs and returned to the beach. He passed the cabin we had built for his father's last days but gave it now but little thought. Jat stood just beyond it, waiting. The other crewman Red saw already down the beach, making for the Black Arrow.
"She's all ready for you, Captain," Jat reported as he passed.
"Thank you, Mate Stevens." Red was wont to fall back on titles when stricken with any sort of grief, Jat knew and he fell in three steps behind the Captain.
"Our course is set for Harbarrow to meet the fleet. They'll be lookin forward to seein' ye," Jat said. His grief already gave way in part to the pride of serving on board the new flagship of the Islands.
"Of course," Red replied and walked on.
"Beggin' your pardon, Captain..." Jat ventured after some silence.
"Yes, Jat?"
"I know the oath yer father asked of ye wasn't one to yer likin'..."
Red stopped. "You feel otherwise."
"The Admiral be no friend of ours, though they say he be on his last legs as well. His son is like to take the command and follow where his father led."
"As I do for mine," Red said, "but that gives me no cause to seek his blood if all else be accomplished."
"He'll look to hunt ye down, Lemuel Drake will," Jat insisted, "even if he and you sail the last two ships in the Coral Seas. I've heard him swear it myself: death to the name of Foxx."
Red Foxx scowled. "And when have you ever set eyes upon the man, Jat? Near enough at least to hear him make such an oath?"
Jat laughed. "But you've got me there, Captain! That I haven't, though I'm still sure as steel that he means to do what I've been tellin' to ye, mark me words."
Red was little in the mood for such humor and Jet saw in the Captain's eyes that he had perhaps taken his liberty a mite too far.
"Oath or no," the Captain told him, "to swear death upon one I have never exchanged so much as a word..." He started back on towards to ship, shaking off this thought. "It make but little difference now, Jat, for I have gone and sworn the oath my father desired and we now shall see what comes of it."
Jat let the matter be and dogged the Captain's steps up to the gangplank where the Black Arrow moored itself to the Isle. She had been wrought here, before the desolation of twenty years past, and given to Red Foxx when he had come of age to take a captaincy for himself. She was a fair vessel and sound, though not one to compare in size with the great bulks the Admiral's fleet sailed, a few of which still remained to plague the pirate-folk. But she was still perhaps the most nimble of any ship now upon the waters, however small her size might be, and she bore cannon enough to take a bite large enough of any ship that crossed her path.
The crew stood silently by as Captain Red Foxx took the deck.