Saitaku awoke. Her long-lashed eyes fluttered open and for a moment, all was a confused blur of colours and shades of darkness. There was something big above her, she realised. Blinking a couple more times, a long, grey muzzle became clear, and a pair of concerned blue eyes stared down at her.

"Letalis…?" she muttered, her throat hoarse. The wolf barked and shook his fur, his long, doglike tail wagging enthusiastically.

"Mistress!" a young, male voice filtered through to her mind, and she jolted awake.

"You can talk?" She said out loud.

"Telepathically, we can. The amount of time to develop this skill varies with the individual. I'm hungry." The voice echoed in her head and she smiled and petted her creature. He barked and picked her up, setting her on her feet.

"Thank you, Letalis. Keep close." She said to her creature. For the first time since waking, she took in her surroundings. She was on a flat, featureless grassy patch, on top of a cliff. Far below the edge, the sea churned violently, and she felt rain tapping at her exposed neck and arms. A path led from the cliff to a larger patch of land (around 1000 metres square) below to the north (the sea was on the south side of this peak). The vortex had long since closed, and all around the peak, humans were waking up. People struggled to their feet, shivering in the rain and harsh winds up here. Her people were Native Americans, so they had no warm clothes with them. They shivered in their loincloths and flimsy dresses as the wind tugged at them, their tanned faces pale. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Letalis pick up and injured man and examine him, before raising him to his snout, opening his jaws and biting him in half, then swallowing both pieces. Blood splashed the ground and stained the grass brown, and a slight trickle dripped from the corner of Letalis' mouth.

"BAD WOLF!" Saitaku scolded, genuinely angry. She slapped him across the face hard, and he fell to the ground whimpering. "No eating my people!"

She remembered that he was only little and that she had hit him very hard, so she softened her voice and said to him:

"I wouldn't mind if that man had belonged to an enemy god, but he was one of our hardworking people, and you mustn't eat them."

The wolf gave a sheepish grin, showing his blood-stained teeth.

"Sorry mistress. I said I was hungry…"

"Just…don't eat anyone else, okay?"

She realised that, despite the fact she was a 75 percent evil god, she was beginning to find a place for that wolf in her heart. She came from a long line of evil gods, who had loyally served the Clan, and now that they were (she presumed) gone, what should she do? Come to think of it, she didn't even know what this land looked like, and whether there were any resources or villages. There could even be other gods here for all she knew!

"Stay here. GUARD the villagers (don't eat them)" She told Letalis. He barked his acceptance and sat, watching the people huddling together and whispering fearfully. Saitaku soared up to the sky, hundreds of metres up, and looked down. The land was, indeed, large. It seemed to be made up of three long sections, attached to a medium sized middle section. The first part, she was on, was made up of the cliff, some hilly plains below it, a forest (plenty of wood available then) and a patch of land with a village on, where this section joined onto the middle of the island. The village was a small affair, and appeared to be Greek, judging by the blue/grey slate roofing and stone walls. There were around six small houses, a village store and a village centre making it up.

The middle of the island was like a pie with a slice taken out; it was round, with a triangular piece of sea piercing it to the middle. There was some kind of building on the shore, and she made a mental note to check it out later. There was one village in the middle section, exactly the same as the first, but it was Norse (wooden huts and thatched roofs). The second island section came off of the middle like the first. It, similarly, curved round in imitation of the first, and the first thing she noticed was the temple there. The 'arm' ended in a cliff, which curled, protectively, around a Japanese village. The temple gazed down like a watchful guardian. She noticed that it was neutral, but larger than hers had been on the Clan's island. The Japanese villagers wore cute little kimono's and sandals, and their log-houses were raised above the ground on wooden legs. The village was quite large, and it sprawled down the slopes of a large hill, in the centre of the semicircular land created by the cliff. Beyond the village, on the side that faced her creature's location, were several rice paddies. They were basically the same as grain fields, but larger and semi-flooded at all times. She saw several villagers working this land with hoes and rakes.

The final section of the island was a tall, imposing cliff that rose above the sea further than the one she'd arrived on. It consisted of a path that took the walker to that height. There was a Norse village guarding the top of the only way up, then a short stretch of cliff, complete with pine forest, then a plain stretch of cliff-top area, with a second Norse town. Here there was a parting of ways; one path led to a second wide clifftop area that was uninhabited, the other led to a smaller area of cliff, with two temples built side-by-side. Both were 100 evil, decorated with skeletons of heretics and non-believers, who hung from creaking chains attached to its walls. Huge, curved spikes jutted like tusks from their walls and doorways like gaping mouths faced the village on the cliff section before them.

(If any readers who have played black and white one are finding this difficult, just imagine the second land, except larger, and with an extra bit where Lethys should be, which has two temples on it)

She sighed; there was no doubt there would be fighting here. She had yet to come to terms with the loss of her teacher, and there was no hope of completing her training. She sighed a second time and a voice accosted her:

"Saitaku!" Toku called "over here!"

Looking at the cliff she had arrived on, Saitaku spotted Toku and Omoi standing there. Both looked dishevelled and appeared to have just woken up, like her. She swooped and landed beside Toku, who was rubbing his temples.

"Trouble?" she asked

"Migrane… I hate portals…" He replied "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Omoi?" She said, in a fatigued tone.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking." Omoi muttered, pulling his fringe out of his eyes. "We've been gathering our villagers, they were scattered around that plain in front of us."

Omoi turned and walked over to a group of toga-clad villagers. Their clothes were creased and their sandals scuffed, and many were in shock at the climate-change and indeed, location change. Saitaku felt a wave of depression sink over her: They had no villages, or way of building any, which meant no temple, and no miracles. She sat on the edge of the cliff, green stalks of grass shivering in the cold breeze. Toku sat beside her and put an arm round her shoulder nervously. He had never actually done this kind of thing before.

"Don't worry. Khazaar died well; he was probably proud of his death." He sighed, guessing her thoughts. "I'm sure he was proud of us, too. He must have sent us here for a reason, and we will find a way to survive."

Without thinking, Saitaku turned and hugged her fellow deity. Good and evil could not be more different, but they were all in the same boat here, and Toku was a kind god, wasn't he? He just wanted to help.

"Every time I turn my back…" Omoi sighed, shaking his head and looking at the pair. He was standing a few metres away, and his Cow creature was leashed and standing nearby.

"Master?" Pius' telepathic voice sounded like a man in his mid twenties; still young, but not as eager as the Wolf's. He sounded calm, and composed.

"Pius! You've learned to communicate!" Omoi yelped, dropping his sombre, depressed attitude for once.

"Yes master, but look!" Pius turned and pointed out to sea, towards the second part of the island, with the neutral temple. A figure was fast approaching them. Vir and Letalis both alerted their respective owners, and the three gathered together to watch the figure. A group of villagers formed nearby to watch.

"Oh crap!" Toku exclaimed. The newcomer was a god, and he or she had a sword drawn. The three backed off to give landing room, and Saitaku drew her katana, fingers tracing the elegant pattern carved into the handle. Omoi reached up to his chain, and ripped it off. As it left his person, it blurred as though underwater, and then became a mace; a long wooden handle with a spiked weight on the end. Toku raised his hands, and his halberd faded into existence in his grasp. The humans cried out at the sight of their gods preparing for battle, and backed off. The newcomer landed gracefully. She was a tall goddess, with a golden waterfall of curled blonde hair flowing down her back, and a blue kimono with delicate patterns of waves. She moved fluidly as water, and her sandals were expensive-looking (if they belonged to a mortal, they would have been). This delicacy and beauty was shattered by the chunky, battle-worn buster sword wielded by the woman. It was almost a metre long, and the blade itself was a foot wide. Feathers and ribbons decorated the pommel, flowing like a stream when she moved.

"Harpy allies!" the goddess cried, accusingly. She swung the blade in an overhead strike that would have cleaved Omoi's head in two, if Toku hadn't parried the massive weapon for him.

"We don't know any 'Harpies!'" yelped Omoi, his posture and cool vanishing for the second time that day. The blonde narrowed her eyes and swung back to a guard position.

"You're not allied with the Dark Clan?" She asked, suspiciously. Her Sapphire eyes glinted at them.

"No: quite the opposite! They destroyed our home, Clan Headquarters, and killed out teacher!" Saitaku said, rage building at the mere mention of the name of the hated Dark Clan. Their attacker sighed and sheathed the massive weapon across her back.

"I am sorry." She sighed, wearily "We of the Clan have many foes. Two of which I am at war with here. Did you say Clan Island was destroyed?"

"We assume so. When they got to us, there were no other gods around, and we saw smoke coming from the direction of the temples."

"Alas." She sighed "It is a sad day for us. We are all but defeated. The few survivors are scattered around other lands, and will be easily picked off. We are the only group, I expect."

"What is your name, goddess?" asked Toku, politely.

"They call me Caledra." She told them, her piercing blue eyes scanning the newcomers to her island. "And it looks like you lot are in need of a new teacher. I have a deal for you guys."

"Fire away…" Saitaku muttered.

"I'll not lie here: I'm loosing the war I am fighting. It's two against one here, and I can't hold them off forever. If you help me in my war, against the Dark Clan, I will teach and protect the three of you."

Her voice held a lot of power and superiority for someone who appeared only a few years older than them to the human-eye. The three couldn't help but respect her. There was no deliberation about it. Sure: they might die in a war with other gods, but they would die in a few weeks if they didn't have temples, anyway. They all wanted revenge for the deaths of their teacher and comrades at the Clan, and this was a way for them to get it.

"We agree to your terms, Caledra." Toku said, after a moment's pause. The others nodded.

"Excellent. We shall start training when you are settled. That reminds me: Here."

Caledra raised her hands and summoned several scaffolds over to hover beside her.

"These are scaffolds" she said "place them down, and you provide your villagers with a blueprint of what you want built, and where."

Three of the scaffolds in question (bundles of wood and nails) hovered forwards, and she set them down, one after the other. There was plenty of space for three villages on the plateau in front of the landing site cliff. Each of the three she placed was for a village centre: vital for starting a new village. She provided them each with scaffolds for a Village Centre, a Village Storehouse, a Large House (big enough to house 20 villagers at a stretch) and a Farm (to produce some food for their villagers. They first built the house and the farm, so the villagers had some food and a place to rest whilst building the more difficult buildings. Caledra provided them with wood and placed three Temple scaffolds on top of the cliff, overlooking the villages.

The four of them spent the first three days building their villages, and then moved onto the temples. It was when these began to take shape that the trouble started…

--

Omoi stood, admiring his temple. It was made of a light, grey stone and looked neutral to any alignment, because there were no decorative spikes, but no angelic statues or marble features. There was, however, a small fountain in the little courtyard in front of the door: Two walls curved round like arms, enclosing a small, grassy area with a little, gurgling fountain in the centre. Pius the cow mooed happily, and went to drink from the fountain.

"This is great, master!" he telepathically told Omoi "The water is sweet! Try some!"

"I'll be okay for now" Omoi smiled, wryly, I should check on the inside.

"Should I come?" Pius asked, standing with water dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"You stay here for now. I'll come back in a bit and I can show you the finished village."

The inside of the temple reminded him of a castle; smooth stone walls in the round entrance foyer, arched, gothic doors around the circular room, and a spiral staircase ascending the walls, to a room in the top of the temple. On the floor before him was a 3D replica of the island, and there were icons representing temples, villages and the locations of creatures. He admired the craftsmanship of it, and then had a quick look around. One room was signposted 'creature room'. Inside, he found a peaceful valley with trees and a river. There was a pedestal with a rune carved into it, which he touched. As his finger brushed it, it blazed to life, suddenly, and Pius materialised in the grass before him.

"Master?" The cow enquired.

"Sorry, I accidentally called you here." Omoi sighed. He felt stupid, touching strange runes he didn't understand, but that soon passed. He remembered seeing other gods with tattooed creatures, and decided to try it.

"I'm going to give you a tattoo." He said, abruptly. Pius looked up from the grass he was eating.

"Very well, master." He bowed slightly. Omoi focussed his energy into imagining a yin/yang symbol on his palm. A ball of golden light appeared there, and he floated up to Pius' torso, and touched the ball of light to the cow. It sank into the flesh, and burned a Yin/Yang sign there. Pius gave a moo of slight discomfort, but that was it; he showed no signs of pain, and the discomfort passed.

"Okay?" he asked the cow.

"It's very nice, master." Pius replied, admiring the beautiful pattern that seemed to be etched (not burned) into his brown and white chest. "Now can I have something to eat?"

Meanwhile both Saitaku and Toku were admiring their finished temples. Saitaku's courtyard had a statue of her, captured in bronze, holding a katana aloft. She admired the craftsmanship and turned to the group of villagers who were smiling proudly at the temple they had built their god.

"Who created this?" she asked, her voice loosing its cold edge it usually held when talking to mortals.

"I-I did, your godliness…" a young man stammered, kneeling before her and nervously playing with the edge of his fur cloak.

"You did a good job." She smiled at his nervousness but did nothing to calm him. She enjoyed watching villagers squirm with fear when they looked at her. "You may have extra rations this week, and I appoint you the village emissary, you shall be the voice of my people and they talk through you. Got it?"

"Y-yes milady…thank you!" he exclaimed, lost for words.

"You are dismissed…" she said to the crowd, they all filtered back to her village.

Turning back to the temple, she noticed that it was slightly taller than the other two on this peak (they had built the temples together) and the top was becoming a spire. The supports around its base had become pointed, and curled up like tusks on an animal. She smiled at the orangey colour of the stone and entered. She explored each room in turn, and also tattooed her creature. Letalis came out with the three-leg symbol emblazoned on his shoulders and an eye on his forehead. Finally she retired to her bedchambers: the room on the top floor. This was a large room, with a four poster bed that had midnight-blue silk sheets and drapes, and a comfy sofa set on a small balcony that overlooked the entire island (almost). She lounged on this, changing her normal clothes for an elegant purple silk evening dress and bare feet. She looked on at the villagers going about their business and at the swaying of the trees in the forests beyond their territory, then to the Greek village beyond that. She frowned; there was something going on there and she did not like it, some kind of commotion that was spoiling the evening view. She squinted and her vision 'zoomed' to the village. She saw one of the enemy gods there. She realised that at least one of the enemy 'gods' was actually a goddess, like herself and Caledra. This goddess was having her creature impress the town, to capture it. She decided to warn the others.

In Toku's temple, it was mostly the same as the other two, except there were a great many paintings and statues to decorate it. His room was similar to Saitaku's, except with an oak writing desk and luxurious armchair behind it. These were stationed so that the writer could look out, through the French-windows and over the balcony, to see the view whilst reading, writing or whatever else you get up to in a big comfy chair. His bedcovers and drapes were made of a green/blue silken material, and there was a painting of Vir the ape on the wall.

"Nice touch…" Saitaku muttered, landing and nodding towards the painting.

"I thought so. What's up?" Toku sighed, in a tired voice.

"One of the Harpy sisters is in that village north of ours, beyond the forest."

"What?" gasped Toku, serious suddenly "If they take that, they'll have a foothold in our territory! We gotta stop them!"

He felt fear grip at his stomach, as he realised he would have to actually go into battle. He had no qualms about defending his own territory, but attacking a village would be difficult. Caledra had told them about the Harpies: they were vicious goddesses who delighted in death. How could he, a good god, stand up to them?

"Can't you fight her?" he asked, whiningly.

"No! I've gotta get Omoi and Caledra!" she barked, sounding like Letalis for a moment.

"But I-"

"What are you? A coward?" she snapped. That cut him deep. He looked at his friend, shocked, and then stared at the floor. She realised what she had done and hugged him, hard.

"I didn't mean it like that!" she whispered into his ear.

"Yes you did." He said, suddenly. His harsh, hurt tone of voice shocked her. He pushed her away, and stepped onto the balcony, before taking off and landing in front of his temple.

"Come on, Vir." He muttered, leashing his ape.

"What is it master?" the intelligent, curious voice asked in his mind.

"Trouble" Toku muttered, bitterly.

--

Oh no! Social Break-up! Everyone hide from the terrible explosion of violence that will surely take place next chapter!

Well, yes, nobody replied so I made up a character. I will however, have another competition. Any gender (male or female) god or goddess can be in this, but I will select a winner. This time, the appearance will be much later, so you guys have more time to put in your Character Bio's. Use this as a guide:

Name- Toku

Age- appears to be in 20's

Gender- Male

Appearance- long coat, messy hair, soft brown eyes

Weapon- Halberd

Alignment- 80 good, currently

Creature- Vir the goodish ape

Main Civilisation- Norse

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