Summary: An excerpt from a dragon shifter AU fic I've been working on.

Hoping to get the full version of this story finished soon! Keep an eye out and please enjoy! :D

Shifters

"Who was your sire?"

Luke braced his hands against the ground, trying to get his legs to do what he wanted. He felt wobbly and uncoordinated, like a new bantha calf experiencing the desert sands for the first time.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Luke lied.

He wasn't certain why he felt the need to lie except that he had never spoken about shifting with anyone except Ben before. He never had the chance before all of this had started and after all that he'd been through, he wouldn't even want to if he could. He was sick of being treated like an animal.

"The ability to shift is inherited." Lord Vader said with a calm sort of knowingness. It set Luke on edge, though some rational part of his mind was whispering that Lord Vader had to be from Tatooine.

He had to be, because shifting was a gift from the Desert and her Suns.

Keep it secret was the rule he had lived by and it had served him well until the day that it hadn't.

"Yeah, well - you and the rest of the galaxy can go kriff yourselves."

There was… a strange, faint impression in his mind. Like Lord Vader was raising an eyebrow at him. He still wasn't angry and that wasn't in character with what Luke knew and understood about the Emperor's Fist. Just curious, like someone being presented with something that they never thought they'd see and almost didn't believe was possible.

If he was being honest with himself, Luke kind of understood the feeling. If he wasn't so angry and so shocked at even being human again, he would also probably be stunned about having found another shifter too.

As far as he knew, there weren't any others.

Luke tried to stand and was painfully aware of his body shaking from weakness and fatigue. But… he could do this. Two feet wasn't that different from four though he didn't have a tail to balance him out and… that seemed strange now that he was thinking about it. Taking a slow breath, Luke pushed himself up, holding his hands out in front of him in an effort to keep himself steady.

"How old are you?"

"That depends."

"On?"

"What year it is." Luke hissed in annoyance, lifting his eyes briefly to glare at Lord Vader.

Vader was quiet for a moment and then he tucked his thumbs into his belt in a deliberately casual sort of way. "19BBY."

Luke huffed, slowly straightening his back. He still felt like he might tip over and his legs felt unsteady beneath him. But… he was standing. "Then I guess I'm nineteen."

Something… flickered. In the air - in his mind, Luke couldn't really tell which one it was. But.. it felt like a cautious sort of interest. Like Lord Vader was on the brink of considering something but wasn't interested in being wrong about whatever that something might be.

"...and you are Force sensitive."

That caught Luke's attention.

"Like a Jedi?"

Vader nodded once. "You didn't know?"

Luke snorted. "No," he shrugged. "Haven't exactly been in a position to know about things like that. And even if I was… I doubt anyone would have told me anyways."

Anger and humiliation burned through him anew at the thought of how thoroughly he'd been kept chained like a beast to another's will. He wondered what the Rebellion would have done to him if they had known he was Force sensitive. What other things could they have done to him or made him do?

It made him feel tired inside.

He had power at his fingertips but all it had done was make him weak.

It wasn't fair.

"Who sired you?" Vader asked again, quieter this time. Like before, his voice seemed to echo and there was some small part of Luke that wanted to answer him.

Luke grit his teeth, raising his hands to his head - hair, he had hair again and that was so weird - trying to force the echoing question to leave him alone. "I never knew him."

"I did not ask if you knew him. What was his name?" Vader said patiently, taking a step closer. His voice seemed louder this time and Luke felt his skin itch as his scales began to reappear in response to his own growing unease. Vader paused as he noticed and raised his hands placatingly. "You don't need to change. Just tell me who sired you."

His scales faded back into his skin and Luke was briefly flustered by the strange sort of calm that was trying to invade his mind. He felt his heart pounding and glanced up at Vader once again. He was closer than before and Luke tried to take an automatic step back to increase the distance between them. His legs weren't ready to walk though and he instantly lost his balance and fell back to the ground with a thump.

"Anakin." Luke spit out, pushing himself backwards instead. "Get away from me."

A/N Thanks for reading!