Mika perched on the edge of a tree branch outside the first small village that had sprung up.  When the first three had appeared in the world, along with the raven, she had felt a surge of hope for this new little planet she had been granted partial guardianship of.  But then that pirate had appeared on the scene.  She hissed bitterly, cat ear twitching, and tail bristling at the thought.
Humanity never learned... always the first thought of someone seemed to be violence.  Always take, rarely give.

She still remembered the first story.  Of course, no one knew if there could actually be a "first story" because that implied a set beginning, but 'a' first story was of creation:

The story of the evil one, the "devil" in most societies, had been one of the first two creations: the devil and man.
"When the man gained consciousness, he realized that he could not have come from nothingness, and so some larger entity than himself deserved worship and thanks for the gift of life.
But when the devil became conscious he saw that he must have willed himself into existence and sought only to worship himself.  He gave himself the name Beelzeboul, for he was lord of his own existence.
Man grew and prospered, but Beelzeboul grew jealous of Man and introduced and envy and hate to Man - taught Man to make weapons and fight for only himself and his own desires.
So Man fell to primal violence far below his capacity for greatness, and Beelzeboul watched from his land and laughed.

All the old ones knew that whether this story actually occurred was irrelevant, the truth of the matter remained. 
With Man was always created the mechanism of his own destruction.
Mika stood up on her branch and stretched her half feline, half human body with a slight purr.
The one they called Flame had wandered off.  She would follow and see what plans he had for the world.  But she would have to act quickly, this world would not remain versatile long... but perhaps they could still save it from the destruction already brewing within itself.

With a flick of her tail, a wave of felines seemed to jump out of her, starting in mid-jump as a shadowy sketch that filled out in vibrant color once they landed.  Most of them ran off into the different areas of the growing world, adding to the creation as they went, but one small dark gray kitten stayed at her feet.  She scooped the kitten up and jumped to the ground, kissed the kitten, and sent her gently in the direction of the town.

"Be well, little sister.  If one of the first see you, they shall know another is here.  Be sure the right one sees you."

And with that Mika dashed into the woods, wondering if the world was still young enough to create a tesseract and increase her traveling time.

Jack had a sudden change of thought, and late that night, the Revenge set out to sea. Around dawn, all land had been lost from sight and the gentle waves lapped against the sides of the ship. As the day went on, it became hotter and hotter, until a mass of clouds came at them from what Jack's compass called East. As the storm approached, the crew tied down everything that could not be moved to a lower deck and braced them.

The Revenge had turned away from the storm, attempting to go around it, but Jack saw something through the dark clouds. He raised his spyglass and caught a second glimpse at it; a massive plateau of solid rock standing high above the waters, one side was a cliff and the other dipped slightly and what appeared to be an island formed on that side.

"Set a new course, Leo, due East." Jack called out to his crew.

"East? That'll lead straight into the storm!" One of the men shouted out.

"Aye, it most certainly shall. But its not the storm you should be thinking about, its whats behind it that counts!" Jack replied and watched Leo spin the wheel, sending the Revenge headfirst into the storm. Within fifteen minutes, rain came hurtling down upon the few remaining on the deck.

"Leo, tie up the sail, the winds be blowin' against us!" Jack shouted over the rain and wind. He steadied himself on the rocking boat before walking to the wheel and taking over for Leo. Leo clung to the rails as the ship lurched backwards furiously.

"Aye, Cap'n the winds be against us." He grumbled and hoisted himself over the rail. He dropped to the deck and regained his balance. Struggling against the heavy rain and strong wind, he made his away across the deck and helped a pair of crewmen to tie up the sail. Jack watched on as he threw his whole weight against the wheel to keep the Revenge on course.

Then a rope snapped. The sail was still furled up, but part of it was slipping. Leo was sent flying across the deck and smashed through the upper rails, until the winds finally pulled him off of the deck and into the sea behind. Jack acted quickly, he grabbed a coil of rope that was attached to the base of the wheel and tied the wheel in place. Next he tied another rope around the wheel, with the other end around his waist.

"Mr. Tussock, watch my hat." He said and handed his hat, coat and gear quickly to James Tussock, his third in command. Jack ran and jumped off of the end of the ship, diving into the churning waters below. James and another crewman leaned over the edge briefly before dashing the wheel to prevent it from losing hold of the ropes.

Leo floundered in the storm water, the wind knocked out of him from hitting the rails. He flailed as he attempted to stay above the thrashing waves, but he was soon sucked under. What little breath he had left at that point lasted only a few moments, until he coughed and breathed in mouthful of water. He flailed even more as his vision became black, his lungs became filled with water and the crushing depths closed in around him.

Then Jack grabbed his leg and yanked him backwards. Kicking strongly he managed to get his head above water briefly, for a quick breath before going down again to haul up Leo. On his third attempt, he was finally able to bring Leo's body to the surface and then felt a tug at his waist. As the Revenge dragged them behind her, an extra tug now came more rapidly and strongly from the rope. He allowed himself a small chuckle, but immediately regretted it as water splashed into his mouth and he went under again.

The next time he surfaced, to his amazement, he had a firm hold on Leo and he was several feet above the water. Now the tug became a mighty pull and he rose two feet at a time, soon he would be upon the deck once more. The winds began to toss him about and his grip slipped on Leo, whose body now dangled from his arm. A gust of wind slammed them against the back of the Revenge and knocked the wind out of Jack, who used all of his strength to hold onto Leo. Leo chose this moment to wake up, realizing he was hanging many feet above the water was not very settling; neither was being slammed into a boat. He coughed up a great amount of water; some of it was slightly pink or red.

"Hold on!" Jack shouted as another gust sent them towards the Revenge, but this time he was ready and used his feet to brace himself. As they slammed into it, Jack gained a foothold and began to scale the back of the ship, for the tugging on the rope had begun to falter. Leo got the idea and did his best to push upwards, making it easier for Jack to continue their progress. When Jack finally got an arm over the back of the boat, many hands hauled him upwards, but Leo's weight stopped them from bringing Jack all the way over and his left elbow landed on the edge. It snapped backwards and part of the bone burst through his skin. Jack shouted in pain, but ground his teeth and watched as they quickly hauled Leo over. The rain began to slacken off, as did the wind, as Jack was carried below deck to the ship's doctor.

"Gone for a swim, have we, Jack?" Doctor Chapman said and got out his tools.

[Note: "Mika" sounds like "Meek-ah"]

"Flame, we have work to complete, and so little time to do so."  Mika smiled as Flame wandered into the cavern she had created of softly glowing blue crystals.

"How did I get here?" 

"You were being pulled into nothingness by the nether forces forming the reflection of this world.  You should have been strong enough to resist, but I wanted to talk to you and if you united with your inverse self before the world stabilizes you'd risk destroying at least half of the world.  And since this world still has it's purpose to fulfill, it's kind of our responsibility to make sure this realm doesn't collapse before it's time."  Mika stopped when she realized Flame looked somewhat confused, and her ears twitched in embarrassment when she realized that she hadn't introduced herself.

"I'm Mika," her tail flicked slightly and she proffered a slightly furred and clawed hand to her guest.

"Flame, pleased to meet you."  His hand gripped hers with a gentle strength that increased her confidence in him.  "So, what are you?"

"I'm a liminal being.  Except I'm not a hybrid between humans and cats - my race pre-exists both of them.  Though I am fairly young myself and many humans are older than me.  And both of us, as progenitors of this world, are neither living nor dead; as are the rest of the first who were on this world.  We cannot die by means of this created world, but in some ways that places us in more danger.  Anyway, enough talk."

Mika walked over to one of the walls and traced her finger down the side of one of the walls.  A passageway opened as if it had been there from the beginning and sloped upwards into the sunlight.

"Come."  Flame followed her up the path lit by more of the glowing crystals.  Mika stopped and picked up a few of the larger gems to slip into a soft leather bag slung over her shoulder.  "These are a powerful energy source that existed on the last planet I was on."

They stepped out into the sunlight in the middle of a small flowering meadow ringed by trees and a small stream.

"I want to hear how you came to this planet, but first, would you help me with something that was created wrong and must be changed before it's too late?"  Mika knew Flame had struggled early on with creation, but he had the necessary potential to help her.

"What do you want me to do?"

Mika flashed a smile.  "Help me reverse the polarity of the world."

Mika had feared that Flame would lack the ability, but she had taught others before, she should be able to do so again.  She knelt down and placed the palms of her hands on the dark earth in the meadow they were in.  With a sort of imaginary sixth sense that existed on a plane tangential to this world she reached out to the life of the growing planet.  She felt along the axis of the earth to find both polarities still forming.  Satisfied, she pulled out of the core of the earth to speak to Flame.

[OOC: was waiting for someone else to post...]

Jack was the first off of the boat onto the cliff. They had located a cove to hide the ship and docked her there. They scouted the island for a long while before resting at the top of a steep hill in the corner of the island, next to the cove.

"I shall name this island 'Salamandastron'... and here shall be our Fortress of Salamandastron." Jack said and focused hard on his surroundings. A great castle formed around them, flags flying high in the air as bricks assembled themselves under the flags. Within minutes the castle was complete, Jack walked through it and furnished it for much of the rest of the day. When night fell, he explored the island better, created a good map and began to spread life across the ground.

The island of Nox was a rough cone, stretching east to west. In the east, the base of the cone, was mainly beaches and lowlands. At each end of the eastern coast, a small fort stood as an outpost to spot incoming ships and to serve as defense from invasion. From there, as you went west, small hills grew to the tall cliffs of the tip. In the tip stood the fortress of Salamandastron, and the city sprawled outside of it. The city followed the southern side, slopping down the cliffs to the port area. The rest of the island was covered in trees, with dirt roads connecting farms and small villages serving as market posts. The cove, hidden on the northern coast of the cliffs, served as a military dock and was guarded from the public.

"It has been many days since word from the Cartel, any sightings?" Jack asked one of the scouts as he walked along the ramparts of Salamandastron.

"None, Sire. But I believe that Captain Leo has taken the Revenge out to find her."

"Very well, tell me when either ship is spotted." Jack murmured and decended into the fortress.

She could feel the age of the world, now.  It was only an illusion, but already the animals and the plants had the sense of time that hung over everything like a heavy cloak - so strong she sometimes thought she could smell millennium despite the actual youth of the planet.  If she tried to put the scent into words, it came out as something similar to pine trees and healthy soil... and just a hint of mustiness reminiscent of wet fur.

Mika's nose twitched just thinking about it and jumped to a higher branch of the tree she perched in.  It was such occasional moments that made her wonder why she continued to be part feline, just she shrugged the thought away.  She had remained feline and female since the beginning, there had been no reason to change for this new world.  Nimbly she jumped across a few more trees, searching for Flame.

Mika and Flame had traveled together intermittently for years.  So long ago seemed the time when the world was new and their power to control matched that of a god's.  However, they had not neglected their power, and intense training left them stronger, wiser, and with an ability in magic to match the others who had been at the world's inception.  Mika had trained other warriors and aspiring sorcerers - sometimes for a few weeks, sometimes for a year or two - but she only trained with those who could find her, and who she deemed worthy of the knowledge.  Not many sought her out anymore, though, for the world was already becoming a place of science and machinery.  The old power still thrived on the planet, but the hearts of men quickly abandoned it for the less fickle lover of technology.

Flame suddenly appeared directly below her, looking up at her branch.

"Either you're becoming worse at hiding, or I'm getting better at finding you," Flame called up.  He was dressed well, but in simple clothes that would blend well in a forest.  He held a gnarled staff that was either powerful magic or a weathered walking stick.

Mika grinned and launched herself from the tree and landed gracefully next to him.  "I don't try to hide, I just blend in well.  And I think you are getting better."  Her ears twitched happily as her tail curled up.

The two set off walking through the forest, not talking for a while.  Finally Flame broke the silence.

"You said this time you were going to tell me a new secret about yourself." 

"I did."  Mika looked down at her hands, suddenly uncomfortable.  She started playing with the strap of her shoulder bag slung across her chest.  Flame waited patiently.  "Well, it's actually more a secret about this world than about me.  Do you know why this world was created?"  Mika knew he had asked her the question before and she had only ever evaded the question or answered vaguely, and he had given up asking it long ago.  But this was the question that all men asked, so she knew he would not have given up discovering the answer.

"There is some purpose, but I haven't discovered the what or why or how about it."

Mika glanced askance at her friend.  She was proud of how much he had matured in the last years.  "Even I don't know the why, but I have some limited understanding of the what and how.  To begin, I've lived on five other new worlds like this and been one of the original Shapers.  I don't know if the planet I was born on was an original planet or another seedling planet like this one.  I honestly wouldn't be surprised either way."  She glanced at Flame again, he looked surprised, but didn't interrupt her.

"Each planet started with a small number of people and almost always they each choose separate paths.  Civilizations quickly form, histories are developed, and for all the members of the world know, they've been around for thousands of years.  Before long the various Shapers wage war against each other for control of the planet - every time.  That's what each of these planets are for - they're battlegrounds, setting people against each other like some cosmic arena, I just don't know why."

"Are you telling me that this world is going to erupt in war?"  Flame asked incredulously.  Mika could sense some anger in his voice.

"I'm telling you it will if we don't try to stop it.  I was one who fought on another planet - I won... last man standing.  But in order to win I destroyed everything I loved.  I was left alone in ruins... clinging to a world turning to ash."  Mika fought back tears.  That was so long ago, but the guilt of the event still haunted her.  Images of all those who died because of her tainted her dreams and waking thoughts - that's why she had to save this world.  She couldn't let it happen again.

"We're placed on a planet with nothing, we're supposed to create a world then turn on each other and kill until there's only one left?"

"It's not always like that!  But it's always been death and destruction.  Sometimes I died early and was sent to another planet.  Last time I tried to stop them... we lived peacefully for so long, and then one man became too greedy and launched a war.  I tried to save as many as I could but died long before the end."  Mika felt tired recounting the past and stopped walking.  Flame turned to her.

"So we fight.  We kill anyone who might start a war before they can."

"I tried that.  Someone new rises up.  What I don't understand is why it happens.  Every time, the world feels fresh and full of life - like it wants to continue living.  I don't think the purpose of these world is to fight, but to figure out how to start fighting, and if we just go around killing people, that's never going to happen."

"So what do we do to stop it?"

"I think you might have to return to Second Chance."  Flame began to interject, but Mika continued.  "You and I don't want to start a war, but with the growth of Jack and Matt's people, they will soon run into each other and battle will begin.  I would visit Stonehawk, but he is so far north he is not yet a threat.  I fear that he could become one.  But for now... our only chance is to meet with Matt or Jack, and I've had bad experiences with pirates.  What do you think?"

"Sir, a lost ship arrived at the docks on Thorn Island. They say their fishermen from Second Chance, but have no fishing equiptment and had a stash of what we believe to be stolen items under some boards." A Guard said to Jack.

"Load the men, items and their boat onto the Lark and send them to Second Chance. Find out what's going on and if needed, put them up for trial. Also, alert all island patrols to watch for ships from Second Chance. If there is anything else, I'll be down at the cove, watching the artillery tests." Jack said, heading down the stairs with the guard.

"I'll be damned..." Captain Lang grumbled as he read the note. He waved to a group of soldiers who hustled the 'fishermen' onto the boat and began to attach lift ropes to their boat. The Lark stretched 115 meters, it was the flagship of Jack's fleet that guarded the archipelago of six islands. Within the hour, the trio of massive sails were unfurled and the ship made its way out of the cove, heading south-east, towards Second Chance.

"We'll be there by tomorrow evenin', Captain. Continue South-east by east?" The helmsmen asked.

"Yes, continue South-east by east..." Land replied and leaned on rail, gazing back at the islands, slowling shrinking into the distance.

Matt heard it first. A cat-like face flashed into his mind, followed by a wall of fire.

He woke to an alarm bell, then to knocking. "What's that?" Katherine asked sleepily, as Matt tumbled out of bed.

"Something's wrong, Kath," Matt replied immediately, throwing on a bathrobe. "I'll be back."

He stumbled downstairs and opened the door, facing his minister of foreign affairs, who had an urgent look on his face.

"What?" Matt asked.

"They're reporting a foreign ship sailing down the river," the minister replied urgently.

"Well, I'll be..." Matt commented, suddenly pensive. He looked up again. "I think someone wants to talk to me."

And just like that, time stopped, and Matt was facing the same catlike entity he had seen just before he had woken up.

"Is there a problem?" Matt asked.

"There's always a problem," Mika responded, a streak of sadness in her voice. "But there's no time to chat. Flame wishes to speak with you."