You guys, I am so sorry. I didn't realize until today that it cut off half of my first chapter, my bad. Here's the whole thing, hopefully. I'll check this time.

"Diamond, come on, it's time for the ceremony," Silver said.

"Maybe in a moment, Silver," Diamond said.

"A moment? Diamond, it's time right now."

"I said a moment, Silver," Diamond's voice rose in anger. Silver, his long hair spilling across his back, walked stepped inside Diamond's tent.

"Are you alright, Diamond? You seem…off lately."

"I…it's nothing, Silver. Go on."

"You've been drawing back from us. We're your family, we're here for you."

"But you're not really-my family, I mean. We say we're family, but we're just a bunch of people who live together."

"We're a family because of what binds us together, Diamond. Our beliefs, our practice, or have you forgotten about that?"

"We're a big group of people with magical prowess. So what?"

"So what? Diamond, there are very few people who have the gifts we do. And even fewer of those people can handle it. Some of them are crippled permanently by it, their bodies mutilated because of the magic skills trying to show themselves. We're the Shifters, we belong together. There's strength in numbers."

"Strength? Strength for what? The Warlocks died out years ago." It was common knowledge to every Shifter that Warlocks, evil wizards who'd once hunted Shifters, had died out long before.

"We don't know that."

"That's what everyone says."

"Just because 'everyone says it' doesn't mean it's true. Now tell me what's been going on, Diamond." Diamond looked into Silver's eyes, his perfectly messy hair slightly obscuring his own. He sighed heavily and spoke.

"I want to be…involved. With someone."

"There are plenty of girls in the clan, Diamond. I know for a fact that both Ruby and Crystal like you."

Diamond said nothing, looking away slightly.

"Oh, I see. You'd prefer a, ah, male counterpart." Diamond nodded once, slowly. "Well, I don't think any of the male Shifters are interested."

"Exactly," Diamond said.

"So, what're you going to do?"

"I was hoping I'd be able to leave the clan. Find a normal human being who'd accept me."

"Ah, I see. Well, I suppose I could grant you leave." Diamond smiled instantly.

"Really?"

"Really. So long as you don't reveal your true nature to any human who you think will use the information harmfully or wouldn't easily accept it. Make sure you've a pinch of Memory Dust lying close by."

"Oh, thank you, Silver!" Silver nodded and left for the ceremony, the nature of which Diamond had already forgotten. As he packed, he thought.

The Shifters were a magical race. They had many talents, including shape-shifting. But by no means was that their only power. They were also fast, strong, could know a lifespan with a touch and often knew when things were going to happen before they did. They were a close-knit group, sharing everything in their small clans. Diamond knew he'd be leaving a part of himself behind, but he also knew that it would be worth it, if he could find someone to love, to spend the rest of his life with.

He stopped, thinking. If he was going to live in the human world, he'd have to have a human name. Diamond simply wouldn't do, though he was rather fond of it.

He thought, snapping his fingers, when he found a name. James. A common name, one no would think twice about. James Diamond. It was perfect.

Without another word to the rest of his clan, James swung his bag over his shoulder and headed off.

The Shifters weren't actually that far from civilization. It was less than a mile before he found a road. And it was at that same road that he stopped as a car wound through the narrow path.

Diamond, now renamed James, watched as the man drove over the hard concrete, smoothly, wishing he had a life like this stranger. A normal one, free of magic, where he most likely came home to a family every day. How James ached for something like it.

Suddenly, a deer burst out of the trees ahead. The car swerved, maneuvering to avoid the deer.

James watched in horror as the car tilted over the side of the road, tumbling end over end down the long hill until, finally, coming to a terrifying, dreadful stop, shuddering as it smashed into a tree. James dropped his bag and raced down to it, his feet unnaturally steady on the sloped surface.

James saw the man through the window, bleeding profusely. He tore the door off (literally) and quickly undid the seat belt, dragging the man out of the wreckage.

"Hang in there," he said. His hand flew to the man's neck, finding a pulse. It was weak, and it was slowing.

Suddenly, James was gripped by a lifetime of images. The man's name was Kendall Knight, age twenty-five. His little sister was rather young for an agent, but she was apparently doing fine. He was a hockey fan, and he'd used to have a band with his friends. They'd practiced in his garage, and his mother was a nice, wonderful woman. He'd been on his way home from his job at Rocque Records, where he worked for possibly the loudest man in the world as an assistant.

But what James found most interesting was that he was married.

To a man named Logan Mitchell.

Best friends since age six, the two had grown inseparable. They spent so much time together people assumed they were a couple. And then, they were. Logan had made the first move, kissing Kendall at their junior prom. Kendall had smiled and kissed him right back.

It hadn't been long before the two were found in bed.

After that it'd only been three years since they got married, Kendall proposing to Logan with the aid of a hot-air balloon, a corn field, and a generous farmer.

James snapped back to reality. Kendall was dying and he had to act fast. He held his hands over Kendall's head, where he could see the blood was coming from. He tried his best to heal Kendall, another gift he had from his time as a Shifter.

But it was too late.

"Logan," Kendall sighed, the name spilling from his lips as he slipped away. A single tear slipped from James' eyes.

Then, James perked up. There was no reason for Logan, a good person, to go through the grief of losing his husband. And if James had something to say about it, Logan wouldn't.

With the help of a simple spell, the car was returned to its previous condition and was sitting once again on the road. In the matter of a few seconds, James' form changed, and he was suddenly Kendall Knight's twin. There was no reason he couldn't be Kendall, he knew the way Kendall acted, talked, moved. He'd just seen Kendall's entire life so he had the same memories. Logan would never have to go through that kind of anguish.

Now it was just a question of what to do with the body. Kendall was just as good as Logan was, he couldn't be left out here for night scavengers to pick at him. James touched Kendall's forehead and the body faded, sent somewhere that he knew it'd be safe.

Then, with the help of Kendall's memories, he drove to Kendall's and Logan's house, parking the car and walking up the front steps. He opened the door and walked in, pausing when he saw Logan at the stove.

Logan turned around, staring at him. James gulped, hoping he'd gotten the form right.

Suddenly, Logan smiled. "Come and sit down, baby, dinner's wating."