[licenseartistic] April 2008 - Vortex
Title: "Vortex"
Prompt: Picture: Spiral Staircase
Character: The Tenth Doctor
Warnings: None
Pairings: None
Fandom: Doctor Who
Word count: 410
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: The Doctor and all other mentioned characters are property of the BBC, and are used without permission.
The Time Vortex. An ominous sounding name, yes, but an accurate one. It's the beating, whirling heart of the universe... the spinning and raging center of all that is, all that was and all that might be. It is every beginning and every end... a maelstrom of the primal energy of Creation. To look upon the Time Vortex is to risk madness and terror, to chance inspiration and enlightenment, or simply a very dramatic way to end your life.
I was eight the first time I saw it-- or more to the point, was shown it. You see, when a young Gallifreyan wanted to (or is wanted to) become a Time Lord, there was a lot of ceremony involved in the initiation, just like everything else the Time Lords did. The most important of all this pomp and circumstance involved the Untempered Schism.
(Another thing the Time Lords were good at? Giving things big, fancy, melodramatic names.)
The Untempered Schism was a window into the Time Vortex. Their idea was that if a child had the aptitude and ability to become a Time Lord, he or she would be able to gaze upon uncontrolled and naked face of time itself. As I said, not everyone can stare into the Vortex and walk away. A few will immediately recognise the beauty and majesty of the grand storm. Others will look and find their minds broken or ripped away. Still others might become so frightened by the sight of the Vortex that they will run in terror.
Hundreds of years ago, the boy who would become The Master stared into the Untempered Schism and, I believe, went mad.
Hundreds of years ago, the boy who would become The Doctor looked into the grandeur of the Time Vortex and ran the bloody hell away.
They let me into the Academy anyway, of course. Obviously. And no matter how long I travel through space and time, no matter how many years and light years I traverse, I will never forget what I saw in the Untempered Schism. It was too beautiful and too terrible to behold, take my word. The universe is a great and magnificent thing, and at its heart is something amazing.
I can look at it now. I know it well after all this time. But there's still a trace of that boy who could only think of running as far away and as fast as he could.
Prompt: Picture: Spiral Staircase
Character: The Tenth Doctor
Warnings: None
Pairings: None
Fandom: Doctor Who
Word count: 410
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: The Doctor and all other mentioned characters are property of the BBC, and are used without permission.
The Time Vortex. An ominous sounding name, yes, but an accurate one. It's the beating, whirling heart of the universe... the spinning and raging center of all that is, all that was and all that might be. It is every beginning and every end... a maelstrom of the primal energy of Creation. To look upon the Time Vortex is to risk madness and terror, to chance inspiration and enlightenment, or simply a very dramatic way to end your life.
I was eight the first time I saw it-- or more to the point, was shown it. You see, when a young Gallifreyan wanted to (or is wanted to) become a Time Lord, there was a lot of ceremony involved in the initiation, just like everything else the Time Lords did. The most important of all this pomp and circumstance involved the Untempered Schism.
(Another thing the Time Lords were good at? Giving things big, fancy, melodramatic names.)
The Untempered Schism was a window into the Time Vortex. Their idea was that if a child had the aptitude and ability to become a Time Lord, he or she would be able to gaze upon uncontrolled and naked face of time itself. As I said, not everyone can stare into the Vortex and walk away. A few will immediately recognise the beauty and majesty of the grand storm. Others will look and find their minds broken or ripped away. Still others might become so frightened by the sight of the Vortex that they will run in terror.
Hundreds of years ago, the boy who would become The Master stared into the Untempered Schism and, I believe, went mad.
Hundreds of years ago, the boy who would become The Doctor looked into the grandeur of the Time Vortex and ran the bloody hell away.
They let me into the Academy anyway, of course. Obviously. And no matter how long I travel through space and time, no matter how many years and light years I traverse, I will never forget what I saw in the Untempered Schism. It was too beautiful and too terrible to behold, take my word. The universe is a great and magnificent thing, and at its heart is something amazing.
I can look at it now. I know it well after all this time. But there's still a trace of that boy who could only think of running as far away and as fast as he could.