Doctor Who is not mine, I did not create these characters nor the background of Gallifrey but I did create this scenario. That I will take ownership of.
Theta Sigma could say with a fair amount of certainty that he had been born on the wrong planet. Sure Gallifrey was pretty and full of intellectual stimulation but it was just so not him. Every time he tried an experiment that was not of scientific importance he was chastised. Every time he snuck outside late at night to stare at the stars in the sky he was punished. Every time he spoke out against the Gallifreyan machine he was locked in his room and ignored by his family for days.
As soon as he could, he was getting as far away from this planet as possible.
He was currently hiding from his family, or at least the people he was genetically related to, in the red fields outside his estate with his real family. He had a well-worn telescope, staring up at the sky while Koschei lay next to him. Ushas sat next him, impatiently waiting her turn to look up through the telescope. She could wait a little longer though; he was still looking for the spinning stars of Alzerious.
"Theta." She whined, "let me see, you always hog the telescope." He pretended not to hear her and continued to look up at the majesty of the universe. "Theta!" He yelped as she pushed him out of the way and took the telescope for herself giggling with glee as she played with the settings. He rubbed at his arm. Ushas was curious and dedicated but she could play rough sometimes. He scooted next to Koschei who was lying on the ground with his eyes closed.
"Do you want a turn at the telescope?" Theta asked.
"Naw, I can't get all excited about a bunch of stars and sky. It's all the same I mean, we've been looking at these same stars for years and years. Don't you ever get bored of it?" Theta frowned.
"That's not the point Koschei, we keep looking to the stars in the hope that someday we'll be able to see other stars in different galaxies, maybe even in different universes. It's a promise that one day we'll escape from Gallifrey and live our lives how we want." Ushas pulled back from the telescope and Koschei cracked open one eye with sparkling skepticism.
"You really believe that? Do you honestly believe any of us are going to get out of here?" He asked bitterly. Ushas turned away sadly and went back to the telescope but Koschei kept on going. He stretched his arms and sat up. "In case you haven't noticed, renegades don't happen very often. The ones we do have are despised and reviled by all of Gallifrey. If you leave without consent you will be hated forever. And you're not getting consent to leave, not with your record. Face it Thete, we're stuck here for the long haul. You'll be lucky if you get out of the Citadel before your thirteenth body."
Theta frowned and turned away as the weightiness of the words hit him. Of course it was all true, but he just refused to let his life end before he could really start. But how? How could he get away from Gallifrey without exiling himself completely? They were quiet the rest of the night, Ushas dominating the telescope while he and Koschei lay on the dark red grass. They separated a little bit later, earlier than they usually left and shuffled back to their houses in grim silence. Theta refused to listen to Koschei, he would not spend the rest of his days on Gallifrey, he just couldn't. He'd go insane first.
No, one day he'd leave, yes, someday far, far in the future he'll get a hold of a TARDIS somehow and fly away to adventure and mystery. It was this he promised himself as he snuck back into his house and hoped maybe he could evade punishment for the night.
Okay, wrote this in the early summer and have been playing with it for so long that I feel I can finally start posting this. This story is sort of my baby, this is my personal headcanon for the Doctor's life on Gallifrey which incorporates / explains things I mentioned in my other stories From Gallifrey to Trenzalore and Children of Time. You don't need to read them to understand but this just expands upon the things I dropped in mentioned in other stories. It involves A TON of Classic Who Gallifreyan lore so if it's not clear just let me know and I'll explain. I hope you all enjoy, I'll either be alternating once a week between this and FGtT or, hell, I might just post one of both a week. We'll see.
Theta Sigma- The Doctor's school nickname, Koschei- The Master's school nickname, Ushas- The Rani's school nickname (The Rani is a Classic Who Time Lord villainess who basically an heartless scientist. It's been said that they were all friends in school)