This is just a story idea I came up with.

Disclaimers: Skylanders Trap Team belongs to Activision, Jamie belongs to pokemonsora01 who gave me permission to use him, and I only own Rachel, Claudia, and Joseph.

Leave The Past, Embrace The Future

Chapter 1: Searching For Answers

Rachel looked at her uncle again. "Who is Claudia?" she asked. "Why does her name pop up in this old box I found with pictures of her, me, and Dad? Was Dad married to her before he met my mom?"

Joseph sighed. "Rachel, I can't tell you," he said gently. He had been telling her that over the past hour, but she wasn't giving up. "Claudia is someone you don't have to know about."

"Yes, I do!" said Rachel. "If she's a part of my past, I have to know. Why were these hidden in the attic?"

Joseph shook his head and gently placed his hands on his niece's shoulders. "Honey-girl, this is one thing best left alone," he said, his voice still gentle. "I don't want to see you hurt."

"I won't get hurt," she said. "Why won't you tell me?"

He walked away. "Rachel, please don't bother with it," he said. "I should have burned that box a long time ago."

Upset that the man who had raised her since her father had died, Rachel ran upstairs to her room, holding one picture in her hand and quickly plugging in her Traptanium Portal, which formed a portal to Skylands for her. She leapt through it and landed on her feet and rolled to her left, knowing she had landed in the Main Hall of the Skylanders Academy from the Chompy Statues she saw. She then sat up.

"Whoa, Rach," said a familiar voice and she saw Bag O' Bones kneeling down by her and he gently grabbed her arm to help her up. "You okay?"

She nodded and he led her to the game room where the other Skaletones along with Head Rush and Krypt King were playing Skystones Smash, a favorite game in Skylands. Krypt King stood up. "Rachel? What's wrong?" he asked.

She looked at them all. "Do any of you know about Claudia?" she asked and showed them the picture.

Everyone froze as if hit by Chill Bill's freeze ray and Master Eon appeared, seeing the picture and looking startled. "Rachel, where did you find this?" he asked.

"I was in the attic at my house and found a box full of pictures and such," she said. "The back of it says it's my dad, Claudia, and me when I was little."

The others looked at each other. "We haven't heard of her," said Ribz, but Rachel knew he was lying and knew that her partners were lying too when they told her they didn't know. She looked at Master Eon. "What do you know about Claudia?" she asked.

He gently shook his head. "That knowledge is best left alone," he said gently. "You shouldn't have found out about it."

She knew he meant that in a concerned, father-like way, but she was too upset to take that advice. "Then I'll find out on my own," she said, her face hardening as tears were filling her eyes and she stormed away. Cali came in to see Rachel heading for the main door.

"Rachel, where are you going?" she asked.

"To find out about Claudia, since no one will tell me who she was," answered the girl.

Jamie and Enigma came in and the mysterious trapper froze. "Rachel, don't," he said.

"What's going on?" asked Jamie.

Cali stepped in front of Rachel. "Don't do this, Rachel," she said. "Just leave it."

Rachel turned to her. "I don't understand why everyone is such a coward and refuses to tell me about her," she said sharply. "And I know you all know, but you're lying about it."

"Rachel, it's not that," said Krypt King.

"Then who is Claudia?"

The Undead Trapper looked at her and then looked away. That made Rachel even more upset and she stormed away. Jamie quickly followed her. "Rach? Where are you going?" he asked when he caught up to her.

"I'm going to find Flynn," she said. "I'm going to ask him to take me to Know-It-All Island. The Knuckleheads know all the history of Skylands. I'm pretty sure they can tell me about Claudia."

"Can I come with you?" he asked.

She looked at him and shook her head. "I need you here," she said.

"No way," he said. "I'm coming."

She saw he wasn't going to change his mind. "Okay, but we can't tell Flynn and we can't tell our partners where we're going," she said.

Jamie nodded and they found Flint. "Hey, Flynn!" the boy called out.

"Well, hi, Portal Masters!" said the captain cheerfully. "What's going on?"

Rachel smiled. "Flynn, can you take Jamie and I to Know-It-All Island?" she asked.

"Well sure," he said. "Villains to chase?"

"Uh, no," the girl said and didn't know what to tell him.

"It's a cool place," said Jamie. "And riding the steam jets to the higher grounds is awesome!"

"BOOM! You got that right!" said Flynn. "Just let me get to the controls. Your partners coming?"

Rachel shook her head. "No, it's just us," she said. "Some brother-sister time."

"Ah," he said in understanding and started up his ship, taking off. The cousins looked at each other.

"I hope Enigma won't be too mad he's not coming," said Jamie.

"I'll smooth things over," Rachel promised. "Since you're keeping this secret."

And she had to find out about Claudia and the Knuckleheads were reliable with information.

She'd soon find out.

What will the Knuckleheads say? Read on!

GoldGuardian2418