One Equal Temper of Heroic Hearts

Disoriented

Jack could feel a shift in the air as the portal spat him back out- the sense in the back of his mind that told him where the wind was at any given time came back to life, and immediately he sent out an instinctive plea to be caught. The wind rushed up under him, and he was gently righted and placed on his feet in cool, lush grass.

Jack sighed quietly in relief, then looked around to check that he hadn't done so prematurely.

Several other people- five, he quickly counted -were scattered across a small clearing in a forest somewhere, crossed by a rough footpath. He immediately noticed a young woman floating upside down and doing a graceful flip to her feet, as though gravity were an afterthought to her. She pushed back wavy, thick black hair that went down to her waist before looking up and making eye contact with him. Her eyes were such a peculiar shade that Jack immediately guessed she was Chosen like him, and he sized her up. She was maybe half a foot shorter than him, and seemed to have a svelte build and delicately tapered limbs that she'd actively worked to add a lean, functional musculature to.

She seemed to be analyzing him similarly, but they both broke off as the others- mortals, it seemed -stirred.

Jack turned towards them: three were brunets; a small teenage boy with not a trace of fat on his body, and a similarly petite young woman; and a young man who was lightweight but broad-shouldered, and looked slightly older than the brunette woman, maybe late twenties as compared to her early twenties. The final stranger, a girl also in her mid-teens and sporting long, thick, wild red curls that surrounded her like a puffy shroud, had a much sturdier and more muscle-toned build than her fellows.

The brunette young woman was brushing off her deep violet skirt when the redhead noticed the brunet boy, and her expression instantly hardened. She broke into a run, crying out and about to tackle him as he staggered to his feet, but the brunette girl physically threw herself between them, body-checking the redhead girl and staggering.

"Hold on, hold on!" She yelped, sticking out an arm to block the redhead. "Let's talk this out!"

"There's nothing to talk about!" The redhead retorted in a heavy Scottish accent. "He and his barbaric tribe attacked my kingdom!"

"Your people attacked our explorer first! We wouldn't have fought you at all, but you wounded his dragon so badly we had to send out a search party for him!" The brunet boy replied. His voice was startlingly distinct and fairly nasally.

Jack frowned to himself and moved closer to the rest of the group. "Hey, hey," he cut in calmly. "Listen. That's some really major conflict to deal with just between the two of you, but you have got to lay it aside for now. Plus you're both just kids-"

"- and you're not?" The eldest of the three brunets, the broad-shouldered man, asked. "You don't look much older than they are."

Jack gave a short, dry laugh. "At least I can act mature. How old are you, thirty? Real impressive, getting worked up like a kid who can't share Mommy's attention."

"Twenty-seven, thanks," the brunet man said tartly. "You're acting real mature there, kiddo-"

"-guys, stop it! All of you!" The petite brunette woman pleaded, still physically separating the redhead from the boy she was trying to attack.

"Get out of my way!" The redhead demanded.

Jack growled to himself and, realizing the chaos was missing something, glanced behind him at his fellow spirit.

She was silent, but watching the conflict intently. There was a light behind her pale, cool eyes, a certain quickness in her glance, and Jack knew she was going to do something a moment before she did.