Hi, so this story is a new experience for me. I know others have done this sort of story before, but I wanted to try it with these two, because I'm kind of obsessed with the idea of them having a deep connection, and learning to play off each other strengths, and weaknesses. I don't know if this is going to be one shot or end up bigger, but we'll see. If I do write more I will probably end up rewriting how season 1 and 2 played out, and possibly season 3. But this is all I have written so far...and season 3 is slowly destroying me soooo...

Anyways, I'm done rambling read and enjoy :3

They meet in their dreams, and the first time it feels incidental.

Lexa had just began the first step in becoming a warrior's second, and found her resolve wavering as the day threatened to turn into night. It was her first hunt alone, without anyone's aid, and being on high alert for hours on end was making her irritable and clumsy. Exhaustion is your enemy goufa. Anya's voice echoed in her head-reminding her that even warriors had limits. A full day of being pulled taught like a bowstring, ready to be released, only to remain stagnant and bereft of a target to hit, had made her impatient.

The forest was vast, and the prey was plentiful, and yet her stomach was empty.

And her seven year old body ached for a reprieve.

Because she was Trikru when her body demanded sleep she instinctively looked to the trees and found comfort there. It took very little effort scale the trunk of an old pine, and use the branches to haul herself off the ground. She found sanctuary amongst the leaves, and used them to hide from the coming night, and from the chill that accompanied it. She had been instructed to bring furs with her, and a dagger, but she was still scrawny, and the cold seeped into her bones.

Lexa shivered, unable to stave off the hunger gnawing at her belly, and the crisp winter breeze nipping at her skin. She could not ignore both. But she aspired to try, because once she was rested, she could resume her trek through the wilderness. She would have much to answer for when she returned to Polis, because she had wandered well past the normal hunting grounds, and had yet to find anything worth killing. Sleeping in the forest alone was risky, but so was going back to home empty handed.

She refused to return a disgrace.

She would go home with food or not at all.

After curling into a comfortable position, she was asleep within minutes, and while her body remained nestled against the hard trunk of the tree, her mind was no longer on the ground, trapped in its hungry prison. It was in the sky, dreaming of places out of her reach. Since she'd been able to form words, Lexa had always had questions about the unknown-she'd always wondered what it would feel like to wander outside of Trikru territory. In the trees she had a bird's eye view of the land, but she always hungered for more, and when she slept, she dreamed of the sky, and its inconsistent blues, and of the stars that represented the souls of her Kru laid to her rest. Even now in her dream, the sky was the rare kind of blue that only manifested when the sun was bright and the clouds were a distant memory.

The constant state of awareness that domineered Lexa's actions while she was awake, didn't abandon her while she slept, and she noticed when the blue started to shift in her mind's eye. On edge, she stood guarded, and stationary in the clouds while her world tilted and the familiarity of the sky was displaced by an icy blue that was reminiscent of the cold bearing down on her in reality. It was like a different hue of her favorite color had inked over everything she knew, simply to penetrate her skin, and eradicate what little warmth was left in her dreamscape.

"You look scared." The voice was one of many things she didn't recognize, and Lexa turned on her heel to address the speaker, and to dispute the absurdity of their claim. She was Trikru and she feared nothing. The defiant reply burned at the tip of her tongue, but the words never made it to fruition because a girl who she had never met before, held her gaze, and her eyes reflected the same blue that currently invaded her mind, and rendered her limbs useless with cold. Was this a bad dream or a good one? It was hard to tell, because there had never been an uninvited guest present in her dreamscape before, looking at her with accusatory eyes like Lexa was the one intruding. Curious green eyes clashed with icy blue, as the young warrior tilted her head to the side in contemplation. This strange girl wore clothes from a time that predated the Trikru. The grey ensemble of pants and a loose shirt looked as out of place as she did in Lexa's dream. "I am not the one who should be scared." She stated plainly after studying the child across from her.

They looked about the same age, but the one invading her dream was not a warrior.

She wasn't bred for combat, and had probably never picked up a sword.

Lexa could tell that from a glance.

And yet the only reply she received for her observation was an amused snort that disintegrated into a rumble of laughter a second later, "I was scared. But then you showed up, and had this look on your face," She made a nonsensical gesture, and her features suddenly became smooth and inhospitable, and her lips pursed into a thin line, in a perfect imitation of Lexa's face when she was concentrating. She held that expression for a second, long enough for a small smile to tease the edge Lexa's lips before the girl broke down into giggles again. "You looked like the world was about to end."

A couple of seconds ago the dreamscape had caved inwards, presumably to let the girl across from her inside, and Lexa had nearly stumbled into a blue abyss. The world had nearly ended, but her pride would not allow her to admit as much to this unrepentant invader. "I did not look like that." She muttered glumly, sending the blonde haired girl a dark look.

Stifling another chuckle, a small smirk graced the girl's features. "Sure you didn't. And while we're both playing pretend, I'm a queen and you should bow to me."

This time it was Lexa that snorted, and her eyes nearly rolled out of her skull. "There is only one queen I know of, and you are not her." She said quietly, unable to hide her amusement, as she tried to imagine the blonde as the Azgeda's kwin. It was laughable, because the leader of the Ice Nation ruled through fear, and intimidation. The rumors about her made grown men quake in fear, and yet Lexa would never bow to her; so the odds of her falling on her knees in deference to this little girl with a button nose and a mischievous smile were non-existent.

Oblivious to her inner monologue, her guest seemed to only focus on a small fragment of Lexa's sentence. "You know a queen?"

"No." The expectant stare she received was a question in itself, and Lexa found herself reluctantly elaborating. "I have never met her, but word of her strength and cruelty has spread; all the clans know of her." That should have been enough information, and if she had been speaking to a child that spawned from any of the 12 clans, it would have sufficed. However, instead of understanding her words only seemed to breed more confusion, and a look of bafflement that could not be manufactured creased the girl's features.

In that moment, Lexa realized that this girl understood nothing.

She didn't know about the Azgeda, or their kwin, and she would bet that she had no idea about the clans either.

This meant in the grand scheme of things, her blonde intruder knew frighteningly little, and it begged the question of why? Where did she hail from, and what sort of place harbored such an oblivious child?

"I don't…Understand." The girl spoke slowly, carefully, like she was working her way through a puzzle Lexa had presented to her. "I don't know of any clans, unless you're talking about the different stations of the Ark that came together years ago?" She asked, and it was Lexa's turn to stare blankly at her and shake her head no. That's not what she meant at all. She had no idea what the Ark was, but she knew instinctively that they were talking about two very distant subjects.

"You do not belong to a kru… a clan?" She asked after watching the girl's troubled expression grow more severe.

"No, I have a family. And I live on the a ship called the Ark with my people…in space." She admitted quietly, all the mischief gone from her expression as she glanced at Lexa, asking without words where she was from, but the brunette couldn't focus, because she was still recovering from this shocking turn of events. She was talking to a girl from space. How was that even possible? What poorly contrived trick was this? And what deity was responsible for it?

It took Lexa a moment to swallow her surprise and even longer to give the girl an answer. When she finally did work out a cohesive response in her mind, it was stilted and formal, as Anya had taught her. "I am a future warrior and Trikru, I live with my people on the ground."

The girl stared at her wide eyed as she absorbed that kernel of information. Their entire situation was surreal. They were not simply strangers, coexisting in the same dream, they were two entirely different entities born in two entirely different worlds, now occupying the same mental space.

"I see." Was the soft response to her introduction, and the girl sat back, leaning on a cloud behind her for support. It was strange to see something that was clearly not solid hold her up, but very little made sense in this dream, least of all their surroundings. Her blonde invader didn't seem bothered by the lack of reason present in every aspect of her environment, and simply continued to lounge against her chosen perch. "The ground is…supposed to be deadly. They said there were no survivors on Earth." She muttered, and Lexa wondered if she was speaking to herself, or to her.

"The strong survived."

The blonde chewed on that, drank in Lexa's appearance, her guarded stance, and how very alive she was "My teachers were wrong." She stated after a moment, and it wasn't a question.

"Sha."

"You and your people survived." She reiterated, like it would make what she was saying the only real part of the dream.

"We are strong." Lexa responded simply, a small smirk accompanying her words.

A ghost of a smile on the girl's face before it disappeared, and it reminded Lexa of a star dimming, until its light was finally extinguished. "You might not be real though. I've never dreamt of anything like this before. You could be a figment of my imagination, or I might have eaten something rotten, or maybe this is some sort of trauma induced hallucination." She was rambling, and with each possible theory Lexa found herself growing more and more lost. She didn't know what those terms meant, but she was able to piece together that her guest was no longer amused by their situation. She was confused, and was slowly falling victim to her own fear and meager understanding of what was going on.

Lexa could relate.

Sharing a dream with a foreign girl in space, is not how she planned to spend her night. It was unprecedented, and frankly terrifying, but she would never acknowledge that. She wondered what Anya would say or do in her situation, and found herself unable to imagine her mentor interacting with this girl for any extended length of time. Anya would have dismissed her as an apparition, and went back to the waking world where things made sense. Groping blindly for something to say to assuage them both, the brunette finally settled for "I assure you I am very real."

The look she received was searching. Are you?

"What's your name then?" It was a question not a demand. So far this girl had done nothing but question, and it was a refreshing change from what Lexa was used too. Her life had been full of demands. Her parents had demanded her absolute obedience when they forced her to learn a trade. And she had done that without question. Anya had demanded her unwavering commitment to become her second, and Lexa was going to painstaking lengths to appease her. This girl simply asked, and Lexa wanted to answer of her own volition.

"My name's Lexa." The name was a tangible line to the real world.

And it was one that she offered freely.

And for once in her life Lexa received her first taste of reciprocation when the girl nodded and offered a piece of herself as well. "I'm Clarke."

They talked about everything and nothing to pass the time. They still weren't entirely convinced that this wasn't a cosmic joke, or that they hadn't simply invented a person that didn't exist to curb the frequent bouts of loneliness that crept into their lives without warning. They had no way of knowing, so instead of agonizing over it, they simply decided to indulge each other while they could. Eventually they would have to return to their waking lives, but while they slept they got to know each other. Clarke admitted she wanted to be a doctor, and that she spent most days assisting her mom with patients on the Ark. Lexa admitted to being a half trained blacksmith that was on her way to becoming a warrior.

Both were curious to learn more about the world they were not a part of.

Neither noticed when they gravitated closer to each other, and were sitting on the same cloud, while they took turns asking questions. Lexa had settled down a foot away from Clarke, and was turned towards her, so one leg was stretched out almost brushing against the Skai girl, and the other was propped up, while she leisurely leaned against a cloud cover in a classic "cool" pose. If it had been any place except the safety of her own mind, she wouldn't allow herself to be open and unguarded like this. But there was no one to reprimand her here. And she was thoroughly enjoying her current discussion, with the girl across from her.

"You've been training since the age of two?" Clarke was looking at her in horror, and Lexa was trying very hard not to laugh.

"Sha."

Blue eyes narrowed at her. "Does that mean yes?"

A small chuckle escaped before the brunette could stifle it, and Clarke twitched like the sound physically irked her. "Yes. It does. And I have been training since I could walk. Every clan member that can fight, must fight. We are at war, and no one can afford to be defenseless."

"You're a kid." Clarke muttered, a frown inching across her face.

"War does not care if I'm young or old." Lexa huffed, and waved off the girl in front of her with a curt gesture. "And I'm not some goufa that's just learning how to crawl. I'm seven." She emphasized her age proudly because some became warriors at the age of ten, and Lexa only had a few years before she earned that privilege.

Clarke made an amused noise, that was hardly appropriate after her last statement and Lexa glared at her.

"What?" She all but hissed and that one indignant word made the blonde begin to shake with quiet mirth.

"I'm 8…So to me you're still a baby." She taunted between laughs, like she had won some contest between them, and that only made the brunette bristle more.

"Shof op. Clarke." Lexa grumbled, and it sounded more petulant than intimidating. Anya would be disappointed in her. For a proud warrior to be, being reduced to a pouting child was humiliating, and unbecoming. And Clarke's incessant laughter was not helping. Sitting up stiffly, she did her best not to scowl or let her irritation show, but Clarke saw the tense of her jaw, and the stubborn tilt to her chin and her laughter slowly began to die.

"Hey, no I'm sorry." She apologized, unwilling to endure the brunette's silent anger while they were stuck together. When Lexa didn't respond, Clarke lightly nudged her leg in an attempt to garner her attention, and green eyes swiveled over to glare balefully at her. "I shouldn't have laughed." There was no malicious intent in her words, but Lexa still wasn't sure she liked being teased by this strange child that lived in the sky.

"I did not think my age was funny." She agreed solemnly before glancing at the blonde invader across from her. "You are not funny."

The open mouthed look of indignation she received soothed whatever remained of her injured pride. "I am hilarious, thank you very much!" Clarke huffed in a way that was entirely too defensive to be believed.

"Sure you are." The words were condescending, as was her tone, but there was a mischievous light in her eye, that Clarke recognized, and the blonde seemed respond to in kind. Boldly, the Skai girl leaned in, insistent on leaving no space for Lexa to breathe. She was close enough to touch, and to shove back if she chose, but she waited, every muscle and sinew wired with tension, as she kept an eye on Clarke.

"I've made you laugh before." Lexa remembered that moment; an eternity had lapsed in the time they had been talking, and before the teasing started a chuckle had escaped her.

Defiantly she shook her head. "Doesn't count. I was laughing at you. You still are not funny."

Clarke threw her hands up in exasperation, thoroughly fed up with the verbal assault. "Rude! How did I get stuck with a rude dream person?" She mumbled, and her tone was reminiscent of the one Lexa had been using minutes earlier when Clarke had called her a baby. So Petulant. So painfully close to a pout. "I'm ready to wake up now." The blonde glanced up at the boundless blue sky that had transported her here for assistance. It didn't respond to her plea and that only made the Skai girl pout more. "Fudge." And it sounded like a curse.

Blue eyes turned to glare at her. "My friends think I'm funny." She muttered

And Lexa tried so very hard not to say the words hovering on the tip of her tongue, but it was all for naught, because right now she was a child, and when she woke up she would be a warrior again.

"….You have friends?"

The girl across from her made an outraged noise, and it was the only warning she received before a light punch connected with her arm. Lexa's perfect mask cracked then because she hadn't expected her words to evoke violence, and Clarke's punch was clumsy and weak compared to the heavy blows she endured in training. What remained of her mask completely shattered when Clarke got up from their shared cloud and began pacing back and forth in a huff. She only paused once, to grunt at the silent brunette. "Shut up Lexa. I have friends."

Laughter escaped her then.

And it surprised them both, because Clarke stopped pacing completely and look at her. Blue eyes clashed with green.

"Okay, I'm lying." The soft utterance compromised the light hearted air between them. And Lexa wanted to ask what there was to lie about but Clarke shook her head and sat down again. Their proximity, as well as the sudden change in the Skai girl's demeanor was daunting, so Lexa said nothing. She knew when to listen. "I said I have friends, but I don't."

"Why?" It was an earnest question because she seemed like the type of girl to have many friends.

"I haven't really been around kids my own age. My mom taught me at home for a long time, and so when I started my classes, I was already ahead of the other kids…My parents decided to put me into harder classes with older kids, and none of them like me." She rushed through an explanation, seemingly embarrassed by her own social ineptitude. It baffled the young warrior, because even she took breaks from training to play with kids her own age. She swam in the streams, and planned fake wars with them. She ate with them, and all the seconds slept in the same tent in Polis.

Even among older warriors like Anya, and Tristan she didn't feel ostracized. The only time she felt isolated is when she missed her parents.

Solitude like what Clarke was describing was foreign to her.

"Everyone needs friends Clarke." She stated firmly, unable to contend with the sad look on the Skai girl's face.

The blonde shrugged as if it was no big deal, but Lexa wasn't convinced of her apathy. Especially since her hands were tightly clenched in the cloud cover like it was the only thing steadying her, and eyes were glossed over like she wanted to distance herself from the truth. Being alone and friendless was not an easy existence. "I don't."

"You do." Lexa disagreed with her.

Clarke bit her lip, unsure of what to say. Her brow scrunched in frustration, like she couldn't wrap her head around the concept of needing anyone. It seems propinquity wasn't taught on the Ark, like it was on the ground. "It doesn't change the fact that I'm by myself." She said, and the quiet revelation made Lexa's heart ache, because she was sitting right in front of her. By some twist of fate, this strange little blonde had invaded her dream, and teased her, and made her laugh, but when she woke up, Lexa wouldn't be there to keep her company.

And Clarke wouldn't be there to change her perception of the sky.

But right now, despite their contrary beliefs, logic, and all the rules of space and time they were together, and Lexa didn't want the Skai girl to go back home, where nothing but loneliness and poorly taught lessons awaited her. "You have me." She offered another part of herself without any thought to the consequences. She couldn't explain why she needed to assuage the girl next to her, or what prompted her to offer her time and energy so freely. She felt like something had inexplicably drawn them together.

They were sharing the same dream.

They had been learning about each other in the same mental space.

And she knew Clarke felt the pull of their connection as well, because when the blonde returned her gaze, there was burgeoning understanding present, where only conflict had lived before. "I have you." She agreed softly, uncertain of how real that statement was.

It was the beginning of a tentative friendship.

And when Lexa awoke seconds later, her lips were blue, and her teeth were chattering, because it was the beginning of hypothermia. She didn't know if she had just been driven mad by the cold, and experienced the most vivid dream of her life, or if Clarke was a real girl in space, that found a way to communicate with her. But she knew that she didn't want that first meeting with the Skai girl to be her last. Even if it wasn't real, Lexa wanted more than just a few fleeting hours with her, and next time she was determined to get them.

Of course there might not be a next time because Anya was going to take great pleasure in brutally eviscerating her when she got home.

My fight is over. She groaned internally, and considered letting the cold take her, because then at least it would be a painless death.

So that's the end of that.

A couple notes,

Just in case they seemed off for a seven and eight year old, I took note of that, and tried to tone down the complexity of their thoughts, and how they spoke, but in my head I can see them both being geniuses as children, because let's be honest-they are both scary intelligent. I'm also 100% positive they were both much more laidback, as children and I was trying to show that in this chapter. Also for the classes Clarke is taking, I imagine on the ark they work a bit like high school and college classes, where you have general studies and then after a bit you can choose what classes you want. And their different tiers of classes, depending on how far in the course you are. So right now, Clarke is 8, and shes further ahead in general studies than most kids her age. So she's hanging out in a class with ten and eleven year olds.

And she's kinda loopy and lacking basic social skills, from only hanging out with her family, and helping her mom cut people open all the time.

Meanwhile Lexa is training with Anya, and going on her first hunt. And she wants to bring back something spectacular. Instead she might end up getting sick, and bringing back hypothermia, and blue limbs.

But um...Yeah. Cheers to this oneshot, or multi-chapter. Whatever this story is XD