This story is a prequel to my 'Halfway Out of the Dark' series, the first story of which is Deafening Silence. It doesn't matter which you read first, but the series itself does get updated more frequently.

At the beginning of this story, we will see quite a bit of jumping through time with scenes, but they'll slow down eventually.

For the majority of the beginning of this fic, in the Academy era, I will be using the names Theta Sigma, Koschei and Ushas for the Doctor, the Master and the Rani respectively, as those were their names/nicknames at the time.

They had all talked about it, of course.

Wondering what such a thing could be like, how it would feel. But all the older students had refused to divulge anything, all of them getting a faraway and slightly frightened look in their eyes at the mention of it. It wasn't exactly what you would call encouraging, though she was determined to in the very least appear strong. Whether or not this would be a show was yet to be determined.

The eight year old, small for her age, walked through the unusual darkness that was so different from the lights in the citadel that were put on at night, her regulation boots softly brushing the soil and grass that though currently colourless in the dim light, would normally have been red. All the same, actually being amongst it and out in the open air was almost cause for panic in itself. She forced her eyes to avoid straying to look at the burning lamps that lit the ritualistic dirt path, and focused them on the circle directly in the middle of her path, the circle that was steadily becoming larger and larger.

Feeling the eyes of the wardens on her back, she stepped forward so she was directly in front of it while keeping her eyes on the Seal of Rassilon that was located below the Schism. There were many stories of what happened when one looked into it. There were rumours of a small few who went mad upon seeing the sight...

Madness sounded terrifying and like a thing she was unable to imagine properly in her head. She hoped to be inspired like most of the greatest Time Lords were. Running away would be shameful, but preferable to madness by far. Unable to put it off any longer, the young blonde girl raised her head and looked into the Untempered Schism.

She saw places. Gallifrey, the seven systems, different worlds of all different shades and hues, and a strange blue and green planet she did not recognise.

She saw the stars and everything beyond.

She heard sounds, a robotic voice that spoke in a monotone that shouldn't have been terrifying but was. She heard the wheezing noise that the Type 40 TARDIS's made, and the sounds of the universe itself.

She saw faces, the large number of faces that seemed to only belong to a small amount of people.

A boy with brown hair, and a boy with blonde. An old man with white hair and a suit, and a multiple of men after him, each more odd than the last. The faces kept playing through her vision, and she knew she saw people from her future. She saw a red headed woman, and a cross looking woman who came after her, a woman with beautiful dark skin, and it went on. She could feel in her gut that these women were all her. Perhaps some of men too.

Then she looked into the Time Vortex itself and not the things it was showing her. She saw how Time spiralled and twisted in a way no one could control. It was not flawless but still perfect, unable to be improved. She saw the timelines of everything and how they converged on each other before pulling away.

If she had not been so immersed in what she was seeing she would have felt hope. These things inspired her, told her to take full advantage of who she could be. Her heart swelled, and for a moment she could feel an echo of another, the promise of things to come.

Inspiration was her destiny.

Or so she thought.

She made the mistake of going deeper, into the structure of the vortex itself, and saw how infinite and dangerous it was. The raw power of such a thing began to overwhelm her. It was predictable but not in the way most would imagine it. Anything could go wrong and the entire universe could collapse.

She felt her heart beat faster as her brain fought and failed to find a way to deal with the frightening and overwhelming knowledge.

In the end she did the only thing she could.

She ripped her eyes away from the Vortex and ran in the opposite direction as faster as she could, running as though it would mean she could forget what she had seen. For the first time in her life, but nowhere near the last, Aliyanadevoralundar ran away.

The details of her future were already beginning to slip away, her subconscious shutting out things it knew she was not allowed to know yet. She ran past the guards, trying to get as far away as she could.

She did not get as far as she had hoped before they caught her, but at least she was now allowed to leave and never return.

The Arpexia girl entered the huge library of the Prydonian Academy. She travelled over to the old fashioned book shelves, tracing her fingers over the spines of the many books at her disposal. At the age of seventeen, Aliyanadevoralundar was not quite a child, but despite her mostly grown appearance, she was far from an adult. She was at her browsing for several minutes before a voice from behind her made her jump.

"If you're stuck, I can give you some recommendations."

Aliyanadevoralundar turned to see a boy who physically matched her age - though that told her nothing about his true age. His dark green eyes were watching her with friendly curiosity from underneath his slightly shaggy dark hair.

"Oh, uh, I think I'm probably okay, I'm just having a look, I'm sure I'll find something," she said, somewhat shyly.

"Are you sure?" She nodded, and he smiled before giving her a slight bow, as was tradition upon first meetings.

"Theta Sigma of Lungbarrow."

She frowned. "That's an odd name."

"Well, it's a nickname - variation on my proper one. But I like it much better."

"Oh."

"So, what's your name?"

It was her turn to bow, so she did. "Aliyanadevoralundar of Arpexia," she said, with a hint of pride. Long names were almost always a sign of status, so it was a name to be proud of. Though, for all she knew, his birth name was in fact long too.

"Blimey. That's a mouthful. Do you mind if I called you something more manageable?" He suggested.

The girl frowned in confusion. "Isn't it rather crude, to do that?" She asked, not overly familiar with nicknames as more than a silly concept, other than the one her mother had used for her in her childhood.

"Because it's easier, that's all. Not to mention it saves time and energy," he explained, shrugging.

Unsure of what to say, she just decided to appease him for the moment. "Okay then."

"Good," he said with a smile. "I was thinking...Aliya."

"Al-ay-a?" The girl repeated it, testing it on her tongue. "Aliya. Okay." Theta Sigma grinned at her.

"You look worried."

"My parents said that it wasn't proper to change one's name, that I should be proud of the name I have."

"Coming from Arpexia, I'm not surprised. But you need to have your own opinions," Theta told her, before tilting his head and looking at her with curiosity. "How old are you, anyway? I don't think I've seen you around this part of the school before, which means you must be quite new."

"17," she said, "I know, I'm a baby."

"Just a little bit." He didn't try to hide his smirk, but it was not unkind.

"What about you?" She seemed wary of the answer, and with good reason.

"216," he admitted, and she frowned.

"Shouldn't you be out of here by now?"

"I'm on my second try," Theta winked at Aliya. "So is Koschei, sort of."

He saw the questioning look on her face and led her over to a table where a blond boy had his back to them. Theta hit him over the head lightly with a book he was carrying before swinging around the table to sit opposite him, gesturing for Aliya to do the same. The blond boy's eyes flicked up long enough for him to glare at Theta before returning to the pages of his book. One of his hands tapped on the table in a continuous drumming rhythm.

"Making friends?" Koschei asked, not sounding remotely surprised. When his friend answered in the affirmative, he just sighed. "Must you?"

"Be friendly for once," Theta suggested, "This is Aliya. She's a new junior."

"Hello. Koschei, was it?" Aliya smiled at Koschei, who looked at her long enough to nod politely before going back to his book. Theta just ignored him.

"He'll come around eventually, he just doesn't like bothering with strangers," the brunet boy explained to his new acquaintance. Within a few hours, however, the three of them were conversing normally, and within a few weeks were joking like the best of friends, which in the end they were.

Theta Sigma watched the young woman in front of him. Despite being two hundred years his junior, she showed a level of maturity he was fairly sure he would never have. Then she poked her tongue out at him, and he decided they weren't as different as it may seem.

"Cheeky," he said accusingly, and she laughed, which only made him want to see her do it again. After six months of friendship, she was finally beginning to shed her conventional values and was beginning to grasp the idea that she was allowed her own, even if they didn't match those of the society around them. And six months was reasonably quick by Gallifreyan standards, so he could only be rather impressed. Mostly at his own handiwork.

"I like to think so," she said with a mischievous smile. Theta shook his head slightly in amusement before leaning over the library table they were on opposite sides on to meet her eyes.

"Look at that, we've corrupted ourselves an Arpexian," he mused with satisfaction, and something sparked in her. She too leant over the table until their faces were mere inches from each other.

"Oh really, Theta? You sound so sure about that," she said with a teasing tone. He pulled his face backwards and lowered himself properly into his seat again.

"What do you think, Koschei?" He asked his friend who was watching them over a piece of homework. "We've given her a nickname, told her about our secret group of potential renegades and degraded her to tongue poking. Have we corrupted her yet?"

Koschei regarded the blonde with an unfathomable expression. "I don't know, I could certainly think of some other ways."

"You're right," he began thoughtfully, pushing his own homework away from him and leaning back in his chair. "There is still some stuff she could do."

"Such as?" Aliya asked.

"Steal something. Something important, that will get you in trouble if you are caught," Theta challenged, and Aliya turned thoughtful, before an idea sparked in her eyes, and she grinned.

"So, I just steal something important…" She said slowly, leaning over the table again as Theta did the same. Koschei watched with a frown but neither of them noticed. "Something that will get me in trouble…"

"Basically," Theta replied with a cheeky smile, but he was curious. What was she planning?

"Done." She pulled away quickly, pushing out of her seat and standing safely on her side of the table, a scroll in her hand and a triumphant smirk on her face.

Theta looked down to the table and saw his homework was gone before looking back to the rolled up scroll which was obviously his.

Koschei laughed heartily at Theta's shock and disadvantage as Aliya laughed as well. She looked at Koschei when she heard the sound, and bent down over the table so that his pale green eyes met her own. They stared at each other for several seconds and she took advantage of him being distracted. She snatched the scroll and the ornate writing on it from under his arm and pulled away, laughing at his blatant surprise and anger. She smirked at both of them before walking out of the library as fast as she could.

The two boys looked at each other and an expression of mutual agreement passed between them. They rose hastily out of their seats and pursed the girl as quickly as possible. Once out in the corridors, they could hear her running away, but when they followed the sound, they came to a fork. They took one path each and soon Theta heard a boot squeak from nearby.

"Looks like I picked the right side," Theta said. "Good game, Ali, but can we have our homework back now?" He walked around the corner to see the blonde girl staring at him from the other end of the passage.

"If you want it, you'll have to come and get it," she taunted, and both of them grinned.

"That could be arranged," he replied before charging after her, but she merely poked her tongue out at him again before disappearing around a corner, her emerald skirts being the last thing he saw. When he reached the corner he saw she had not gotten far, and he pushed himself harder, the distance between them closing quickly. When he caught up with her, he cornered her against a wall. She remained defiant to the end, holding the scrolls behind her back, keeping them safely trapped between her and the wall.

"Give me the scroll," he commanded, grinning.

"No," she said flatly, and held his gaze.

"Then you leave me no choice," he smirked, and Aliya looked a little nervous. His fingers attacked her midsection, tickling her for all it was worth. She squealed loudly and almost dropped the scrolls.

"What – ah! - are you doing, Theta? You are – ah! Stop it, I can't bear it – crazy!" She said, giggling and squirming as his one of his hands travelled upwards and attacked the revealed and smooth skin of her underarm which was bare thanks to the cap sleeves of her dress. "This is highly – ah! – inappropriate, stop or I'll…"

The tickling and talking ceased abruptly as he pulled her into a nook in the wall like one in a castle that would hold a suit of armour. His hands had stopped their infuriating play and were now clamped over her mouth. Theta pressed himself into the wall, pulling her with him. The sound of two Professors' footsteps and voices were now imminent nearby. The two youngsters watched the robed men pass their hiding spot without so much of glancing in their direction, and did not breathe again until they were sure they were gone, and both thanked Rassilon for the blessing of a respiratory bypass.

"Thank you," Aliya whispered to him, and he smiled against her hair, although she could not see it. "If they had found you doing…what were you doing, anyway?" She asked, realising she knew no name for the painless torture he had put her through.

"Tickling. Some primitive cultures use it for fun as playful torment," he replied.

"I can see why," she said wryly, "But if they had found you tickling me, then we would have both been in big trouble. Everything we do these days would be considered highly improper."

"So?" Theta said, and pushed a curl of hair from her neck, and Aliya stiffened slightly, perhaps realising how close they were for the first time. For a while they both stood there, unmoving and basking in the closeness they shared, though neither were sure what it meant.

Soon, Koschei had come calling and they hurried out of their nook and pretended nothing had happened.

Aliya was forced to give the homework back, and all was forgiven. As they walked back to the library to continue their study, her mind was clearly at work, and so Theta inquired as to what she was thinking about.

At his question, she just smiled. "I just never expected to have friends like you and Koschei. But the last six months have been the best of my life, so I'm not complaining."

If the hints of romance seem too sudden, remember we jumped six months and the whole point is that Theta and Aliya immediately got along (they had to at SOME point in their lives, lmao). Pretty different from how they are in the future, but everyone has to start somewhere, and they start like this.

Thanks a bunch,

-MayFairy :)