A/N: So, this chapter is going to be a little different. It'll probably be short, and it will be mysterious, but it will make sense in the long run.

***

Many miles away from Trails, but much closer than anyone would have preferred, a small building stood, maybe two stories tall. Made of dark stone, with only a few small windows, the building looked sturdy and close to impenetrable.

Two dark figures were moving across the grass to the iron door in the front of the building. A man and a women. They walked at a brisk pace, matching one another step for step as they went.

"Where's Liam?" The women asked the man. The man glanced over at her through narrowed brown eyes. "Dead," he said stiffly, "savaged by that horrible snow leopard."

The women bowed her head for a moment, as if in silent prayer, then she lifted her eyes to the moon shining coldly in the sky.

"I'm sorry to hear that." She said quietly. "He was always kind to me."

The man rounded on the women, his eyes glowing with cold fury. "Really? Always kind to you, was he? Well let me tell you something; Liam may have been kind to you before, but you should have heard the horrible things he said about you after you left, and worse, announced the reason you left. Frankly, I agreed with every word he said. I'm not even sure why I'm bringing you back here! No one is going to appreciate you being back!"

The man had expected the women to look taken aback, maybe even take a step or two away from him, but she just glared back at him, her arms crossed and a stubborn look that he had known so well etched onto her features.

"I don't expect them to want me back, not after all this time, but I can teach them things, Jim, things they never would have expected to learn." The woman whispered menacingly.

Jim rubbed his bald head. "What sort of things?" He asked.

The women scoffed, her bluish eyes glittering; with scorn or amusement, Jim couldn't tell.

"I will share what I know with Alex, and Alex only." She replied. Jim narrowed his eyes. "Why on Earth do you think that Alex would want to talk to a traitor?"

Quick as lightning, the woman lashed out at Jim. She slapped him across the face and used her leg to knock him down. She then pinned him to the ground and came so close to him that they're noses were only centimeters apart.

"Don't you dare call me a traitor, you horrible excuse for a human!" She screeched. The man, despite the fact that his arms and legs were pinned, sneered.

"Then what should I call you, Marielle?" He growled. "Doublecrosser? Do you find that term easier to process with your tiny brain?"

Marielle climbed off of the man and brushed her brown hair out of her face. The moonlight made her hair glow almost silver. She tilted her chin up proudly.

"I am no longer a traitor." She said quietly. "From now until the end of time, I am loyal to Alex, and Alex only."

Jim got to his feet and shot Marielle a sickly smile. Marielle continued, not remotely unnerved by Jim's attitude.

"I am a Tracker."

***

A/N: Again, sorry it's so short! This chapter is essential to the plot though, so it had to be done.