Blood Earth

Chapter 1

Pairing: Clexa

Rating: a-okay for kiddies

Here's a story addressing the small plot hole that is the fact that the Skykru and the grounders lived in entirely different ecosystems yet neither group have been infected by any diseases that weren't intentional or unnatural for their people. Through out history, when two largely separated groups meet, generally one or the other gets infected with some disease and starts dying pretty fast, so here's my story rectifying that as well as using it as an excuse to write a giant amount of fluff between the Leader Babies.

A chest rattling cough erupted from her throat, her body hunched over in an attempt to contain the outburst, arm coming up to cover her face, but little could be done to stem the explosive expulsion of air. Glancing around tiredly, Clarke gazed sadly at the Grounders she had been locked up with. All were sick with some form of virus that caused weakness in the limbs and horrible wet coughs that racked up the throat like sand paper. It seemed she had also caught the disease while being locked up with them, as brief a time as it may have been.

Slowly, Lincoln came to sit beside her, offering her a water skin as he slide down the wall to rest at her side.

"How'd you get locked in here?"

Groggily, the blonde looked at her friend and took a careful sip of water, her hands were shaking so badly she worried that she might drop the precious liquid. They had shared a cell for almost a full day, and they had barely had a chance to speak due to taking care of the sick. Her voice came out as a croak, which worried her further. How could she be infected so quickly?

"I came to see if I could find a reason for the other clans not to retaliate, but it seems I failed."

She had come in through the crawl space in the wall with Octavia, expecting her conversation with Bellamy to go in an entirely different direction. Instead, it got her locked up with the rest of the captive Grounders in Arkadias holding cell. I thought I could trust him. Her heart clenched painfully at the thought of his betrayal. The blonde had known she had hurt him when she had left, but she honestly believed that she could entrust him with keeping their people safe while she had taken her much needed leave.

Lincoln continued to look at her expectantly, waiting for an answer to his question.

"Bellamy. Bellamy locked me in here."

Instantly the Grounders face soured, morphing into something akin to a snarl. Octavia had mentioned to her that there had been an altercation that had gotten him locked up as well. The Skygirl turned Trekru scowled bitterly as she described how her brother had done nothing to help as her boyfriend was led away. The dark haired guard had also done nothing to help convince Pike to take any other course of action, even in the face of all the ill people they would be condemning to a cell. Before Lincoln could voice his less than kind opinion on Bellamy however, a fit of violent coughs erupted near the door to the cage.

Sliding up quickly, the two picked their way around resting bodies until they arrived at the door, worry for their patients driving them. They looked questioningly at a Grounder sitting slumped against the wall next to the exit, only to have them shake their head and point to a hunched over guard on the other side of the chain links. Eyes widening, Clarke and Lincoln shared equally concerned looks. If the guards were becoming infected with the sickness, then the rest of the Ark wouldn't be far behind.

"Lincoln, how infectious is this disease?"

His response was clipped and facial features tight.

"Very."

Clarke chewed her lip, mind going back to the brief time in Alpha station before being thrown in the cell. Why hadn't there been more signs of a quarantine? Unless of course, there wasn't any form of quarantine. The people of the Ark had been around the illness much longer than she had, yet she had seen no indication of any signs of adverse health affecting the populace while she had been sneaking around, and neither Octavia, nor Kane or her mother had mentioned a large scale outbreak.

"How has Arkadia not been infected yet?"

Her friend turned toward the back of the holding cell, where Nyko was gently helping another Grounder drink slow sips of water.

"I'm not sure, but Nyko might."

Once again picking their way through the illness infested holding cell, they made their way carefully towards Nyko. Nearing the healer, Lincoln gripped his friends shoulder.

"Nyco, we need to talk."

The healer nodded, and only asked for a moment to finish what he is doing. Both Clarke and Lincoln both returned his nod before migrating over to a slightly less populated corner of the cell. Leaning against the cold metal, they waited tensely for the healer to finish his task.

"Linc, I'm worried. Lexa said she would have the army of the Twelve Clans assembled by tomorrow. What if I can't stop this?"

Lincoln was quiet for a moment before answering.

"With how infectious this disease is, and its side effects, she may not even need an army to take this place, but we will have to see what Nyco has to says."

The aforementioned healer soon joined them, a questioning look on his face. Hurriedly, Clarke questioned him, her worry for her people evident.

"Nyco, if the illness that all these people have is so infectious, why hasn't anyone in Arkadia caught it yet? I've been here for a couple hours and I'm already showing signs, as well as the guards."

Nyco thought for a moment.

"Well, most of the Skaikru, other than your mother and the other healers, avoided the medical area because they did not wish to be around us, but now they have moved us and put guards in close proximity with the illness. I assume it did not spread to your healers because they have stronger immune systems due to working regularly in close contact with illnesses."

Nyco paused for a moment, considering his next words carefully.

"However, I do worry what affects it may have on you Sky People. You grew up in the sky, away from the natural progression of the diseases of the Earth. You, of course, had your own illnesses, but they evolved differently due to being in a very different environment. For all we know, this disease could be deadly to you."

The healer finished his words, swallowing visibly with his face full of worry. His expression was mirrored by the duo standing before him. After a long silence, Lincoln spoke.

"This could be bad."

Clarke wholly agreed with him.