DISCLAIMER: I don't own Doctor Who
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Hally raised her hand to her face lazily, trying to block out the bright afternoon sunlight that was winding its way through the silvery shimmering leaves swaying above her. She looked to her left squinting at her blonde friend who was lying perpendicular to her, a large textbook in her hands.
"You're meant to be reading…" Persca mumbled, concentrating hard on the squiggly diagrams and complicated maps that littered the open pages.
"I am reading… the sun was in my eyes." Hally moaned back, lifting up the book that had been discarded on her stomach. "And this is so boring, why do we need to learn how to manually navigate space debris when a TARDIS will do that for us!" Pouting, Hally turned the page of her book. She twiddled her thumbs and closed her eyes, sighing softly with boredom.
Persca tutted loudly, "Not all of them!" She snapped her book shut. "Honestly! You have the attention span of a Shabogan!"
Hally propped herself up on her elbows, raising an eyebrow at her friend. "A Shabogan? That's just rude to Shabogans." She flopped back down onto her back pouting at her friend playfully.
Persca rolled her eyes and sat up, abandoning her own book and instead picking up the one Hally had been trying to read.
"Right…" She flipped to the chapter Hally had been reading and began to scan the text furiously. "I'm testing you."
"Urgh!" Hally covered her face with her arms, rolling onto her stomach away from Persca. "I don't need you to test me you bookworm!"
Persca ignored her and found the passage she'd been looking for. "Aha! So, at what velocity would you ideally accelerate at in order to avoid temporal shift whe-"
"I honestly just don't care!" Hally huffed loudly, sitting up and snapping the book in Persca's hand shut with a dull thump. Persca crossed her arms angrily, making her look like a spoilt child whose parents were refusing to buy her ice cream.
"I have way more important things to worry about than a cartography quiz!" Hally groaned inwardly, covering her face with her hand.
She heard Persca sigh softly, although the noise was distorted by the rough wind that had suddenly picked up around them both. The warmth from the afternoon sun had vanished leaving behind an icy chill.
Hally dropped her hands into her lap, checking the sky for rain. The clouds above them were now thick and dark, casting a gloomy grey hue over the grounds.
"Damn…" Hally muttered softly, rubbing her head gently. She looked up at Persca who was looking at her sympathetically.
"You're worried about the naming day, aren't you?" She asked quietly.
Hally bit her lip, tilting her head slightly. "Among other things." She peaked up at the sky, the clouds rolling over one another irritably.
"You don't need to worry, you're going to be fine. I'll be there, and my family will be more than happy to 'adopt' you for the day." Persca grinned, trying to get Hally to smile.
Hally nodded. "I know…although that's definitely not how it works. I appreciate the sentiment. I just… I wish my family weren't so useless." She picked up the book she'd been attempting to read and stood up. Persca got to her feet beside her.
"I think it's going to rain…" Persca looked up at the sky, crossing her arms over her chest in an attempt to shield herself from the icy wind.
Hally nodded slowly, not really listening. "I need to find The Master." She turned away from her friend, heading back towards the academy. Persca frowned and quickly followed her friend, stepping up beside her.
"What? Why?" Persca frowned. "I don't like him you know."
Hally gave her a look. "You worry too much." They both pushed on the large metal door and slipped back into the academy, finally protected from the now raging winds outside.
Persca uncrossed her arms, grabbing Hally by the shoulder. "No, I don't. He's bad news… I don't trust him."
Hally sighed softly, pushing Persca's hand off of her shoulder irritably. "Well, I do." She turned and began walking along the corridor, hoping to be able to shrug her friend off and make her way up to the old observatory to let off some steam.
However, Persca persisted and caught up with her again. "You can't actually trust him though… you've heard the rumours?"
Hally stopped walking and turned on Persca. "Of course, I've heard the rumours. Persca please, just drop it." Hally stared intently at Persca, willing her to back down.
Persca frowned slightly but stepped back. "Fine." She held up her hands in resignation. "Don't come crying to me when he tries to murder you." Persca shook her head and turned dramatically on her heel walking away.
Hally ran a hand through her hair and once she was sure Persca really had gone, she made her way up to the observatory. It'd been a few months since Councillor Xia had disappeared and The Master had taken on his role. As with any change at the academy, the students had taken to starting ridiculous rumours about how The Master must have thrown Xia off the tallest tower in order to get his job. While to most it was just idle gossip, Hally couldn't help but dwell on the fact that the rumours might just be closer to the truth than anyone realised.
Hally felt a pang of guilt as her thoughts wandered back to her friend, although she hadn't lied to Persca, for some reason or another she did trust The Master. She could at least trust him to be consistent, which was why Hally wasn't surprised to find him already waiting for her in the observatory that afternoon, he was gazing out through one of the large glass windows, his back to her.
"Here was me thinking that we were expecting clear skies all week…" He turned as she closed the door.
Hally shot him an innocent smile but The Master simply shook his head. "No. Change it back." He was obviously not in the mood for games.
It was Hally's turn to shake her head. "I can't? I can't just change the weather…" She grimaced as he scoffed loudly.
"Don't be such an idiot. You already have changed the weather! Now change it back!" The Master had crossed his arms, he was looking at her expectantly.
Hally mimicked him and crossed hers, she walked over to the window and looked out at the sky. The winds were still raging and Hally could still feel the internal anger sitting inside her chest, although the clouds had stilled now, creating an even blanket that covered the tops of the academy buildings.
"You're too emotional. You need to control it." The Master stepped behind her, she felt his fingers come to rest at her temples. "Relax woman."
Hally bit her lip and gently stretched her neck to either side, the feeling of his hands on her temples strangely comforting. It was so annoying when he was right.
Slowly Hally calmed her breathing, she closed her eyes and felt the small presence of The Master on the outskirts of her consciousness. As she became aware of him the steady sound of the drumbeat drifted into her mind. The sound was hypnotic and Hally found herself homing in on the dull rhythm, her hearts eventually slowing to match the beat.
She opened her eyes and held out her hands. Taking a deep breath in she focused the on dark blanket above them. As she breathed out Hally allowed herself to push the remaining frustration out of her mind, she felt something inside her let go and the clouds above them slowly disappeared into nothingness. The wind seemed to drop instantly and within seconds the bright sky had returned.
She lowered her hands and as she did she felt The Master's fingertips drop from her temple.
"See, that wasn't so hard." He mocked from behind her. Hally turned around and rolled her eyes at him.
"It seems very stupid of you to try and rile me after we only just fixed that…" Hally motioned to the sky and moved away from the window.
The Master smirked and turned to watch her. "So… what made you feel so… stormy?" He raised an eyebrow.
Hally rolled her eyes, highly doubting that The Master was at all concerned with her emotional wellbeing. "It's stupid."
He scoffed. "So are most things that young Time Ladies waste their time thinking about, however, most of them don't have the ability to bring about a maelstrom every time they have a tantrum. I've heard talking helps."
Hally laughed. "Oh, have you? Is that you offering to act as my therapist as well as my tutor?"
The Master smirked his annoyingly confident smirk and leant against the table that was pushed up against the wall, waiting.
Hally looked down at her hands, scowling at them. "It's nothing."
The Master nodded silently. A few long drawn out moments of silence followed.
Hally looked up and glared at him. "You must think you're so clever…" She sighed dramatically. "It's this stupid naming day. Everyone has so many ideas about what they want to be known as… what they want to be, and I honestly have no idea what I even am!" She motioned to the sky as if it proved her point. "I don't want to be any of this so how am I meant to choose a meaningful name that's going to define me for the rest of my life?" She looked at him, expecting him to laugh.
The Master shrugged as if it was the easiest decision in the world. "Just be yourself."