The Citadel of the Time Lords was inside a huge dome for a reason. The universe was a dangerous place; the planet Gallifrey was no exception. On most nights, one could look out a window in the highest parapets of the city and see the sky dancing with streaks of lights from meteors burning up in the atmosphere. But some nights they didn't burn up completely, and a dancing streak of light would become a blazing fireball hurtling across the sky, a deranged rocket that would usually crash invisibly, far in the distance. But it was not uncommon to be awakened in the middle of the night by the tremor of a much closer impact. With a small telescope (and often without one), one could watch a rain of explosive impacts on the face of the moon, which is how it got its name in ancient times: Pazithi Gallifreya, Gallifrey's shield, taking the brunt of the stellar onslaught.
It had never occurred to the Loomling boy that the dome would also guard the city from more terrestrial threats. As the groundcar carrying him and his peers left the large dome for the clear, above-ground tunnel, his excitement at being out in the world for the first time overwhelmed any curiosity he might have had about the peculiar whistling and creaking noises that echoed down the long chute. The tunnel continued up the Mountain of Solace, and here the whistling of the tunnel became an eerie moan that the Loomling boy could not ignore. Out the window and through the tunnel wall, he saw the whole of the great fields of redfrond for the first time. They rippled, like a pool of water disturbed by a tremor, and he wondered why he did not feel it.
When the tunnel ended at a sheer rock face, all the Loomlings were told to disembark, and to hold hands with each other for safety. Then a previously unseen door opened in the rock face, and the moaning became a wailing roar that filled the Loomling boy with trepidation. Then the air began to move, to push at the back of his head and pull his hair forward. It tugged at his new robe, urging him towards the door. With the sound coming from the door, it was easy to imagine that he was facing the mouth of a giant creature that eagerly wished to suck him out of the tunnel. All around him, the other Loomlings reacted, ducking and cowering by the groundcar.
"It's only the wind. Stand strong, and hold fast to your neighbor," the headmaster instructed loudly, quelling the chaos, "Remember, you are about to embark on a quest for knowledge. You are here to become Time Lord Initiates, and you cannot begin such a quest if you are afraid." And he began to guide the first line of Loomlings forward, into the dark maw of the rock face.
The Loomling boy clutched the hand of the boy in front of him and the hand of the girl behind him and waited to be led out. The air continued to thrash at his clothes, and howl at the door, but he bore it proudly. Wind, created by the movement of gaseous molecules from an area of high pressure to one of low pressure, until equilibrium is achieved. He had learned the definition in the nursery, but now he was experiencing it, and it was inspiring. His quest for knowledge had begun.