div class="chapter preface group" style="border-width: 1px 0px 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.5em 3em; padding: 0.643em 0.643em 0px; float: none; color: #2a2a2a; border-style: solid initial initial initial;"
h3 class="title" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: 400; font-style: inherit; font-size: 1.286em; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0.5375em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1; word-break: break-all; background: transparent; text-align: center;"a style="color: #666666; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 17.0138px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer;" href=" /works/15354567/chapters/35629137"Chapter 1/a: A well spent youth/h3
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div class="userstuff module" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 551.406px; float: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: #2a2a2a;"
h3 id="work" class="landmark heading" style="border-width: 0px 0px 0.25em; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-weight: 500; font-style: inherit; font-size: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0.125em; line-height: 0; word-break: break-all; opacity: 0; height: 0px; clear: both; color: transparent; border-color: initial initial #333333 initial; border-style: initial initial double initial;"Chapter Text/h3
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" align="justify" Space. That was all I felt in the beginning. The space between the atoms of my being, splayed out in the Loom, waiting for the spark to bind them. I was everywhere and nowhere at once, fully aware of my consciousness. I was spread thin, like the thread on a spindle, unable to feel but still aware. It was like dreaming while awake. Then the rush of cold air filled my newly woven lungs. They were bursting as they became accustomed to the atmosphere. I could think now. My new eyes saw the warp beam and the cosmic heddles from which I had just emerged, like a mother constructed of Validium. That was before I laid eyes on the forms of my mother and father. The strong set jaw of generations of House Stillhaven cousins belonging to my Father, the almost glowing radiant hair of my mother. The tapestry of my body was weak to begin with, my limbs unsure of themselves as neural impulses fired up and down my spinal cord. I could feel very fibre of my being, taught and perfectly /That was my earliest memory growing up on Gallifrey. The other Novices always teased me about it, deeming it impossible to be witness to one's own birth. Yet I remember my Looming so / My childhood was happy, as any child should be in their youth. House Stillhaven was built in the foothills of Mt Janus thousands of years ago, protected by the East Ridge rise of Mt Perdition. I adored that house. Stillhaven presided over lush pastures of red grass, a stone mansion squatting under the burnt sky. Tall spires of granite atop weathered towers, rigid and unyielding to the winds that washed over the hills from Southern Gallifrey. The heavy wooden doors gifted centuries ago by House Oakdown were the gateway to our family home. I remember it clearly. The kitchens where my cousins and I made the most wonderful mischief to nanny Lidrin and the burly cooks. The library where my Father presided over the astronomy of Kasterborous with other House patriarchs. I remember once hiding in a cupboard at the age of six, swigging Plutarchian Mead with my cousin Olyesti, laughing ourselves silly while my father presented his latest theories to his peers. And of course the dorms, my cousins and I /The mansion itself was four sided, one for the cardinal directions of the compass representing the four maxims of House Stillhaven. East, accepting the past, West, embracing the future, North, standing against the darkness and South living in the light. Each Stillhaven cousin was taught the maxims almost from birth. At the age of seven, each of us needed to endure the rite of passage before attending the / At the time of passage, each wing contained a trial, four for each. The East wing required that we face a past transgression and come to terms with it. I was a relatively misbehaved child in my youth so they had plenty to choose from. I faced the theft of my Father's astrolabe just because it was shiny and I liked it. I received punishment for that later. North made us face our deepest and darkest fear. Olyesti failed his first rite because of it. Swore he would never repeat what he had seen. I myself confess it was incredibly sickening to face one's fear but I feared my father's disappointed eye more than my own primal terror. The West wing contained a splinter of the Untempered Schism, the gap in the fabric of reality that allowed one to see the Time Vortex, the infinite and raw potency of Time and Space. It provided those that look into it a momentary glimpse of their possible futures before erasing their memory but not the feeling we feel once we see it. And finally South, living in the light. Stillhaven is a house renowned for the integrity of its moral fibre. We make the solemn vow to uphold the virtue of Gallifreyan Law, never faltering and swearing to put right our indiscretions should we stray from our / And that was it. Each cousin that passed the Rite could now enter the academy once we reached 8 years old. But I had no concern for that. My cousins and I enjoyed our innocence and youth while they / Oh what joy it was to be young with them. We used to run across the pastures and paddocks owned by the House elders, spooking Trunkikes in the grass and playing by the river in the Forest of Argent. The silvery leaves reflected the light of the second sun in the morning. The trees appeared to be alight with glistening flame and when the leaves fell in the autumn, it was like fire falling around / There were five of us back then. Myself, Olyesti, Mithra, Romulo and Saldrin. Birth by Looming means that each family member is lateral rather than direct, meaning that those born from the same Loom are "cousins" of each other. It's a problem that dates back to ancient Gallifrey. All Time Lords were rendered infertile in the old days due to some kind of curse. The historical records are screened so no one truly knows why are species are unable to reproduce naturally. But thankfully, our patron saint Rassilon created the Looms to ensure the survival of our / But I digress. My four companions and I were never really ones for authority. We went on adventures together like it was nobody's business. We once climbed to the township of Perdivian where the monks lived. They lived a simple life, outside the conventions and the stoicism of Capitol life, content to live out their Regenerations in peace, worshipping the higher Eternals. They resided in a congregation, their church small but homely. It was adorned with various tapestries of the chapter house colours. The Scarlet and Orange of the Prydonians, the heliotrope of the Patrexes and the Emerald of the / They were always kind to us, the Monks. They fed us their simple but warm meals and listened to the basic studies we were taught by the Elders of the House. In return, we helped them gather water from the Aqua well and they gave us knowledge of the Eternals and the primordial forces of this Universe. Tales of the terrible Shakri, the Omnivorous Racnoss, the Fledgling Empires and their war against the Great Vampires. We came away from there each time, considering ourselves wiser than our / Our second past time was the continuous construction of our fort in the Argent Woods. We stole timber from the servant's outhouse and built this majestic sanctuary where we could retreat from the disapproving eyes of our parents. We had help though. None of us, being children of the estate were skilled enough to build it by ourselves. Hylla was the Granddaughter of Nanny Lidrin born to House Oakdown. She often stayed on the estate in the autumn and winter. She was a free spirit, unrestrained by the duties expected of Stillhaven cousins. She did what she pleased and I often found myself in trouble because of her. But I never / But by far the greatest time we spent together, a sestet of young Gallifreyans, was enjoying the meteor showers that feel occasionally across the planet. Streaks of magenta light, blistering the serenity of the indigo night. We sat there all night, dodging the wrath of the caretaker, Old Lannex, searching for young cousins out of bed. Old Lannex was a character and a half. Very by the book. Insisted that the best Stillhaven Time Lords were those who abided by the rules. He used to reprimand us within an inch of our lives. When he caught us that is. Seven regenerations and he could still barely keep up with any of us. We were very sure he was blind in one / But no matter who we met or what we did, it was just the six of us, against all that Gallifrey would bring. Alas, no child remains young forever, especially not Time Lords./p
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