A.N. So I haven't been on this site in a while. Surprise! Also, I've gotten myself into rarepair hell while I was away. Here's some Luka/Kagami!

Couffaine.

The famous family of hunters known for ridding the land of the shapeshifters that plagued it. Every one with the ability to transform into one other animal. Any animal from a miniscule insect to an enormous wolf or reptile.

It was hard to believe that less than three decades ago there was only one Couffaine.

Anarka single handedly removed hundreds of shifters from within and around human settlements when she outgrew her teen years. Once she brought her son and daughter into the world, they learned the skills of their mother. As a result, the amount of shapeshifters that populated the lands of the humans became fewer and further between at much faster rates.

The beginning of Anarka's mission was far from easy. She needed to build a reputation for herself. Many hunters have killed shifters in the past, but deciphering who they were among those without the abilities was difficult with human senses.

There was an advantage Anarka carried that other hunters lacked. She isn't human, and neither are her children.

The enhanced senses of her animal form lingered in her human disguise. The magic in her veins made this possible, as well as sensing a kinship of similar magic with other shifters, regardless of what their other form was.

She learned to harness the ability, sometimes being capable of sensing other shifters from considerable distances. She tracked down shifters more efficiently than any other hunter, and the humans loved her for it.

Anarka and her children never boasted any kills because they had no kills to boast about. They'd take their targets to the outskirts of the land the humans called home. Where a hidden, safe oasis resided. A grove where other shifters recovered and thrived until they were ready to go back out to the outside. While they weren't welcome by everybody outside the grove, it was still considered home to many.

The bounties the Couffaines collected always went towards providing for the shifters they brought to safety and looked after. Anarka taught both of her children to track, and the three of them collectively helped more shifters than any other hunter who managed to neutralize any.

They were the 'hunters' everyone wanted to hire.

The family of three would spend their days combing the lands. Anarka, Luka and Juleka would seek out any new bounties placed on the heads of others like themselves.

As was routine, they trekked in different directions, Luka traveling east while Juleka headed west. This way they'd collectively cover much more land. He let dark green and blue scales envelop his body as his arms fused to his sides. Within seconds, the famed hunter was nowhere in sight. A viper took his place, slithering eastbound soundlessly.

He lost track of how many hours passed by the time he reached the quaint, moss-covered tavern. Luka recognized the road next to the stone walls and wooden door. It was a path he walked along many times in his youth. He was only a few miles west of the eastern border.

He entered the single-room building, ignoring the eyes that followed him as he traded a chipped silver coin for a small cup of clear liquid. The transparency of the beverage was the keeper's indicator that someone was waiting to make a deal with him. The figure behind the counter motioned their head to Luka's left. He glanced in the same direction and took notice of a woman with black hair sitting at the corner most table of the room.

He took a seat across from her. The old wood of the low stool creaked as he placed his weight on it. Upon getting a closer look at her, the first thing he found his attention drawn to was the black cloth that covered her eyes.

"How can I help you?" Luka began.

"I have a proposition for you," she replied. "Is four hundred silvers enough?"

"What do you want me to do?"

"In brief, my daughter isn't welcome in our village," her voice dropped to barely above a whisper. Luka leaned in to make it seem he needed to hear her better, but quickly undid the action when the woman sharply spoke "I know you can hear me quite well. Serpentine creatures have keen hearing, after all."

His eyes widened in silent shock and confusion, but she continued her story.

"She has trouble controlling herself. Sometimes she's unaware that she's shifting until it's already too late. Two days ago, several people witnessed her, and she was reported. I offered to help her escape, but she ran away before accepting or rejecting it. I know she did that to protect her father and myself."

As intrigued as Luka was, one question burned deep in his mind. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I know the rouse your family puts up. You agree to hunt your own kind for money, but none of you have one drop of blood on your hands."

Luka was dumbfounded. Struggling to keep his voice low, he managed to softly speak "my own kind?".

"Yes, but your secret is safe with me." She put a slim felt pouch on the table between them, opened it up and withdrew a folded piece of paper. "Open your hand for me."

Luka obliged. The woman tipped the open pouch, causing two scarlet scales to fall into his gloved palm. The perfume they carried was intense. Luka concluded that whatever creature the shifter's non-human form wasse scales came from was incredibly powerful.

"Her scales?" he asked while examining the them.

"Yes," she answered. "This is the most recent portrait of her I have," she placed the folded paper next to his empty cup.

He opened the document and observed the charcoal sketch of a young woman. While her profile may not have been colored on paper, it was heavily detailed and well-shaded. Her hair was dark, but long. Her irises were a fairly light hue, as well. Between this and the scales, he had more than enough information needed to identify her.

"Answer me this, if you don't mind. People always approach my mother, my sister or me to have shifters killed. She may be your daughter, but that has not stopped people from hiring us in the past. Why are you trusting me with this task?"

The woman said nothing.

"How do you know you can trust me?" Luka repeated.

She sighed, her expression unchanged. "If she expresses any doubt about who you are, show her those items. I only ask that my daughter is safe. I'd give anything if it meant she'd be out of danger and happy."

Luka rose from his seat, taking the scales and picture with him. "You have my word," he assured her.

He left the building with those last words, still baffled that someone wanted to hire him with incorrupt intentions. How the woman knew about the 'hunting' rouse was well beyond him, yet his instincts kept insisting that he could trust her.

Luka picked up the same scent of the scales within the air. He locked onto it and made haste towards it.

Luka followed the faint scent of chilled mist that lingered in the air. As he moved towards it, it grew stronger and stronger. He followed it into the mountains that lied in the heart of the eastern lands. His search brought him to a spring far deeper than its diameter.

Luka was certain that a shifter's presence was close. Far closer and larger than what his human eyes were able to detect.

The skies above him rumbled. Clouds grew denser and darker, winds grew louder as they came from every direction. The earth quaked under him, and the water of the spring shot upwards like a geyser, forcing Luka to shield his body with his back, clad in dark green and blue scales.

When the water stopped falling, he faced what stood before him. An enormous serpentine creature gazed down at him with a look of fear masked by anger. It's body rose from the water and was covered in scarlet scales. Golden spines decorated the center of its back and the edges of its face. Whiskers as black as the starless sky grew from its head.

Luka was face-to-face with a dragon.

"You're unarmed," the dragon spoke. The words emboldened by the echo of the surrounding mountains. "What type of hunter kills its prey without a weapon?"

"I don't intend to harm you."

"You wear the clothes of a hunter, yet you're like me," the dragon boomed. "Why are you here?" Its voice grew more stern, scales flaring outward.

"I was sent by your mother," he responded. The creature's large eyes widened. "And yes, in a way, we are the same." Luka's pupils narrowed as his irises nearly covered the entirety of both eyes and dark blue and green scales trailed over the edges of his face.

The heavy winds settled, but the setting sun has yet to break through the looming clouds.

"I can take you to a place where you will be safe. You can stay as long as you need before returning home."

"My home no longer welcomes me." Silence passed between them, as if the dragon was searching for something on his person or in his eyes. "How can I be certain you aren't trying to gain my trust in order to carry out darker intentions?"

Luka withdrew the pouch he was given back at the tavern. Upon opening it, the perfume of the scales inside wafted up to the dragon. She recognized the scent as her own. The fine, golden emblem fused into the material the pouch was made of came from her old village as well.

The overcast clouds of the horizon dispersed, allowing the purple and orange beams of the setting sun break through.

The dragon vanished from his sight, but the water rose and fell as if an invisible force was climbing out of the surface. The spring stilled as soft footsteps came in his direction from behind.

Luka turned in his spot and the young woman from the portrait in his cloak stood before him. She was significantly shorter than he was, but appeared to be about the same age. Her face was identical to that of the sketch he was given, but her hair only fell to her jaw, the uneven ends indicating hasty attempts to cut her hair. Her split ends and clothes clung to her skin from the water they absorbed from the spring.

She looked up to meet his eyes. Her gaze still holding skepticism of his words. The breeze around them both intensified as her eyes narrowed.

Despite her expression and display of doubt, shifters were always inclined to trust other shifters.

For many, it was the only means of survival.

"You may not be a hunter, but you present yourself like one," she stated. Her arms hugged her own torso reflexively. Night was almost upon them and the sun's warmth was almost out of reach. "Forgive me for-..." she interjected herself. "How much did my mother tell you?"

"She told me you ran away and gave me some means to identify you with, but didn't tell me what your form was, or how she knew…" Luka trailed off.

"Knew what?"

"I'll explain everything on the way. I'd suggest we travel in our other forms. The night will be our cover."

She reluctantly took to the starless sky, following the viper that glided along the ground. As dawn approached, she landed soundlessly and both shifted into humans again.

They found a dry section of land, untouched by morning dew and growing warm as the sun touched it. After a whole night of travel, both were left exhausted.

"Did my mother give you my name?" drowsiness slipped through her voice. Her eyes were barely open as she laid on her side.

"No, I don't believe so. Why do you ask?"

"You haven't referred to me by it, so I began wondering if you knew it."

A pause passed through them again.

"Kagami."

Her eyes finally slipped closed.

"I'm Luka," he uttered before letting sleep overtake him.

Reviews are extremely appreciated! Any feedback/constructive criticism is, too!

This is my first attempt at worldbuilding, so bear with me guys. If you guys have any tips for me, I'd love to hear them!

I'm hoping to interact with readers as the story progresses. I'm not dead-set on a plot, so I'm leaning towards a series of mini-stories that take place in the same world. I'll explore different characters, pairings, events, locations, etc. I'm hoping to keep most of this fic focused on Luka and Kagami, but I'm not opposed to writing about some of the other cast, too. If there's anything you'd like to see with certain characters or something you want to know about the world, leave it in the reviews!