Koschei screwed up his eyes and curled up on his bed. His head was still thudding with that pounding headache that had fired up that morning when he'd stared into the Schism. He had managed to convince himself that it was normal to have a headache after staring at all the raw power of time (time being an immensely powerful thing after all), but he was now beginning to wonder if it would ever die down. It had been going for hours now and somehow Koschei knew that any form of painkiller was going to do no good at all. There was a loud thumping noise inside his head: a drumming noise in a way. Koschei balled up his fists and hit both of them hard against his forehead, letting out a short scream of frustration. Why wouldn't it just go away?

It had settled slightly though. That noise seemed to have had enough rocketing around his brain and ricocheting off the inside of his skull, and now seemed to have found a place to nestle in his head. Before it had just been noise to him, like roaring water; but now there seemed to be a beat inside the crashing sound of drums: a beat of four.

One... Two... Three... Four... Beat... One... Two... Three... Four... Beat... One...

Koschei gritted his teeth and tried to stop his subconscious counting that was drawing attention back to the pain in his head. Stupid headache. If it carried on like this he was going to go crazy! Koschei laughed slightly. How would he know? He could be crazy already. But still... had anyone else ever had a headache like this, he wondered. He began to consider whether or not he should have mentioned it to any of the Time Lords, but almost as soon as the thought entered his pounding head it was dismissed. No. They would have thought nothing of it; they definitely wouldn't have cared. They wouldn't have had any concern and probably would have told him to grow up. He was eight now: an Academy student. He wasn't just a Time Tot now. He had to face up to the pain. Ironic... Koschei thought. That boy ahead of him had run back out almost immediately. He hadn't been in there two minutes. That was probably a bad omen. Koschei hadn't cared, despite that other boy. He'd gone in and had a look. He'd kept looking. He'd still kept looking when that pain in his head stared, as though something was trying to worm its way into his brain. He'd kept staring in defiantly, until the next Time Tot came through. Koschei began to wish he'd left earlier. Maybe if he'd turned away when the headache had started he would have escaped its grip. It was too late now anyway. Koschei sat up and moaned, pressing his palms against his temples, bringing his knees up to his chest and rocking backwards and forwards slightly in a motion he hoped would calm him. He tried to block out that sound of drums. He tried to think of something else.

Useless!

They persisted, filling up his head with their noise. Now very upset and angry, Koschei leapt up off his bed (without even deciding to do so) and kicked the wall in frustration (but now being left with both a pounding head and a sore foot, made him even angrier). Why him? Why? Couldn't have been anyone else in those kids: it had to be him! No one else was suffering from nauseating repetitive headaches that were beginning to tip them over the edge. Stupid headache! Stupid Schism! Stupid ACADEMY!

Koschei threw himself back on his bed and buried his face in the scarlet pillows in a vain attempt to cut out the noise. All that did was make everything else but the drums quieter, which made them sound louder in his head. Eventually Koschei gave up, rolled over and stared blankly out at the suns setting over the mountains, staining the snow a brilliant orange.

He'd no idea how long he'd led there but he must have fallen asleep (or on the point of doing so) when he heard a voice behind him speak.

"You don't look well. Are you all right?" Koschei was startled slightly by the voice but tried to act as if he hadn't. He didn't move, not even bothering to turn and see who had spoken. Judging by the voice, a boy of about his age, but he didn't care right now.

"It's nothing," he said in a monotone, trying to rid himself of the echoing thuds from inside his brain. "Just leave."

"No." Koschei felt taken aback by that response. He hadn't expected it, and felt slightly angry that that someone hadn't just left him be. He'd just said "No". Koschei then had to roll over and glare at the offender.

"I said I was all right," he said loudly and forcefully at the other boy in the room and then it began to slowly click. That was the other boy: the boy ahead of him in the line, the boy who'd run away. The odd thing was, though, he didn't seem at all put off by Koschei's hostility and just stood there and looked at him with an odd look in his eyes. Koschei got annoyed again. "Go away," he said. "I don't want you to be here!" Koschei thumped his head into the pillow again. There was a very long pause.

"Have you got a headache?" asked the other boy.

"I'll live," mumbled Koschei, his voice muffled significantly by the pillow. He felt the other boy's hand touch his shoulder and he threw it off. "I'll be fine," he said, giving the boy a glare. The boy withdrew his hand.

"I'm sorry," he said, raising an eyebrow. "I was just trying to help. If you're going to be like that..." He started walking back towards the door.

"Wait." Koschei was just as amazed he had cried out as the boy. The boy looked back at him. Koschei sat up gingerly, trying not to injure his head further. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Overcomplicated real one or other one?" asked the boy. Koschei smiled slightly.

"Other one."

"Theta," replied the boy. Koschei indicated himself.

"Koschei," he said. The boy smiled at him.

"Nice to meet you, Koschei," he said. "I hope your head improves." He left. Koschei rubbed his forehead and listened to the pattern of four again. He sighed as the truth began to sink into him.

"It won't," he breathed quietly, and closed his eyes, lying back on the pillows as the drums beat away...