Hey everyone! First of all, I want to apologize for a few things. First of all, I know that I said that I would have the next chapter out a few weekends ago and I'm really sorry but I had a lot of homework and then it was homecoming (loads of fun there) and then marching band rehearsals so I'm sorry. I'll also try not to do so much dialogue in one chapter again but I needed to get all of the expository explanation stuff out of the way. Anyways… I've got lots of good stuff planned for this story. I like it at least. So, thanks for the reviews.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything here. If I did though, you'd all be invited to the super-awesome par-tay that I would have in celebration. Heehee…

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Kel was lost in thought as she walked out the door. This was to be her biggest assignment yet. How could the king let the Dominion Jewel get away? There was so much that needed to get done before Kel left. How many of the griffin arrows do I have? Kel thought.

"Kel!" Kel turned around to see Dom waving at her. She slowed down to wait for him to catch up. She could feel her heart beating quicker than usual. I'm nervous about my assignment. That's all. Kel firmly told herself. Dom smiled down at her. Kel's hands started to shake so she quickly grasped them and held them behind her back. He was awfully close to her now and Kel could even count all of the freckles on Dom's face from where she was.

"So," Dom began. "It'll be just like old times then won't it? And this time we'll actually have Meathead here to listen to the jokes we make about him."

Kel grinned up at him with a sparkle in her eyes. "The only difference is that now you are going to have to listen to me instead of the other way around. And I expect you to be on you best behavior."

"I always listen to you Kel," Dom replied softly, his face serious. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm glad you're coming with. I – We need you." Dom reached out as though to give her a hug and then quickly withdrew himself as though he thought better of it. He flashed a quick smile before briskly heading off in the opposite direction.

Kel stood where she was in a trance for a few seconds before she finally snapped out of it and started to head to her rooms. She opened her door and found Tobe already in there packing her things.

"Tobe," Kel began. "How did you get here before me?" Kel picked up her glaive and attached it to her belt as she waited for him to answer. She didn't question the fact that Tobe knew everything that happened in the meeting. He had probably eavesdropped on it as he waited outside the door for his instructions. She didn't bother to scold him for it as it proved to be more useful than anything else.

"I just took a different way to get here is all, my lady," Tobe responded while he continued packing. "You should probly go get ready. I've got the packing all set here."

Kel thanked Tobe as she headed towards the stables. What would I do without that boy? Kel thought gratefully. She sighed contentedly as she opened the door to Peachblossom's stable. Kel groomed and saddled Peachblossom as she explained to him what was going on. She did the same for her other mount, Hoshi. By the time Kel had finished with her mounts, it was a few hours before sunrise. She looked up from adjusting Hoshi's tack to see Raoul entering the stables. He looked over at the readied mounts, and Kel could see the laughter dancing in his eyes.

"So, our famed lady knight plans to rush out to save Tortall before even having any food or sleep. My dear, I thought you'd learn by now. You aren't leaving for another couple of hours. Why don't you try to get as much sleep as you can muster before then." Kel looked at Raoul gratefully and nodded. As he led Kel to a cot in the stables he chuckled, "It wouldn't look very heroic if the commander of this mission fell into the mud from a lack of sleep. I'll make sure you're awake you when you're needed." Kel sighed as sleep overcame her. Will I be able to do this without Raoul helping me the whole time? Kel thought before everything went dark.

All too soon Kel heard the sound of sparrows circling overhead. "I'm up," she managed to mumble before sitting slowly up. Kel glanced around the stables and noticed that many of those assigned for her mission were already in there murmuring quietly or saddling their mounts. Kel saw Dom looking over at her. He quickly smiled and turned to Daine and struck up a conversation. Kel saw Daine nod and hand something dark being handed over to him. Kel stiffly stood as Dom walked over to her.

"Morning," Dom said. "I have something for you from Daine." He handed Kel a darking who immediately circled itself around Kel's neck. "His name is Squishy and he's yours." (A/N: Finding Nemo fans anyone? When I saw the movie, Squishy completely reminded me of the darkings. lol I don't own that either btw. Dory does…) Kel rubbed the darking who shivered contentedly.

"Thanks," Kel responded. "Do you know where I can get some food before we leave?" Kel's stomach was feeling funny and Kel was stubbornly convincing herself that it was just because she hadn't had breakfast.

Dom reached into a bag that he was holding and pulled out an orange. "Have this. It's still fresh. I better get back to the rest of the men now. See you!"

Kel ate the orange and proceeded to do a quick routine on her glaive. She walked into Peachblossom's stall to find that he wasn't there. Kel kept herself calm as she looked in Hoshi's stall to find the same results. She strode outside to find Tobe holding both of their reins with her packs set on them. They were ready to go. Kel gratefully swung herself onto Hoshi's back as Tobe climbed on Peachblossom's. She looked around at her waiting command.

"Let's go then," Kel ordered as she trotted off towards Scanra. She really wasn't one for big speeches.

"That was riveting," Neal said as he caught up beside Kel.

Kel sighed, "There wasn't anything else to say Neal. I'm just a bit preoccupied right now. How are we supposed to find the Jewel? Anyone could have it."

Neal plodded along in silence beside her before responding, "I really don't know. This might just be a waste of our time. I suppose we must try though."

Kel looked over at Neal. He was right of course. Having pessimistic thoughts certainly won't make the task any easier. Kel was about to tell Neal this when a fierce twittering overhead distracted her. Kel looked up to find robins darting all around the group with a manic gleam in their eye.

Kel was about to call the sparrows to act as scouts to try to find any danger when they shot up from their perches and started to dash straight at the robins. Kel looked on as her sparrows flit in and out between the sparrows trying to peck and claw at them. What the hell is going on here? Kel had never seen her birds attack anyone else without a good reason.

Kel looked over at Daine who was straining to get the situation under control. Kel thought the best thing would be to keep quiet and let her work. The squabbling stopped as all of the birds looked over at Daine. They had all frozen at the same time so some of them were in awkward positions. A robin had a sparrow in a sort of headlock with his wing while a different sparrow had a robin's head in his claws. As a unit, the sparrows quietly fluttered down and settled themselves onto their normal perches on Kel's horses. After about ten more minutes, the robins flew off into the forest.

The whole group looked towards Daine. She looked up and said, "Nothing to worry about everyone. Just a slight confusion is all." She gave Kel a significant look though to tell her that she wanted a private word.

"Let's move on," Kel commanded giving them all a stern look that they took to mean that now was not the time for questions. Kel waited as Daine came up beside her.

"Something was wrong with those robins, Kel," Daine said softly. "I don't really even know what happened. When I looked into them there was something wrong with them. They didn't even really know who they were. It was like they had a raging fire inside of them that I had to put out. I've never seen it before."

"What do you think caused it?" Kel asked curtly.

"I think," Daine hesitantly responded. "I think they might have been possessed or controlled by someone."

"Would the Dominion Jewel be able to control the animals?" Kel wondered aloud.

"I believe so…" Daine said softly.

Kel let Hoshi lead as she got lost in her thoughts. They know how to use it. What else are they going to be able to do with it?

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That's it for that chapter. I'll put up the next one as soon as I can. Hope you guys like it. See ya!