She could hear the river outside, a never-ending burble a familiar as her heartbeat. She felt the trees around her, shrouding her from the sky above, leafy branches like outstretched arms casting dappled green light upon her world. She looked out the window of her home, the small hut, well-built but not immune to the wiles of time. Absently, she rubbed the scrap of coarse fabric with her finger, feeling the threads beginning to snap and wear away. Moving her thumb, she made out her name by touch. Bucket Lorna, the faded embroidery said. In the Gamma Forests, family was put before self. Always.
There was a tear in her leaf, once hardly noticeable, now a scar made through years of happy remembrance. She could still smell the smoke of the first tree ignited, the putrid stink of the creatures in their fire-suits. She could feel the sweaty prayer leaf in her clenched fist as her mother's desperate hand left the other. The sting of fire still burned her eyes, still choked her lungs as if she was again a child. And yet, among the blaze and the screams and the ash falling like the myth of snow upon the ground, she felt The Doctor's hand most keenly. He found her, and they ran and ran, up the forbidden hills and down to the valley where the fathers washed the clothes and the mothers took the village share of the Forest's Bounty. They ran until they found a ship, a ship far greater than even the tallest tree in the Gamma Forest, and Lorna was amazed. But fear broke her from her reverie, and The Doctor told her to hide as he ran to the ship and before she could protest she had tumbled into the brambles, making a tear in her leaf, the last trace of her mother. After struggling up, her arms and legs covered in stinging marks, she saw him fighting those... things... all alone. Her heart ached to join him in battle, though she was too young to know bloodlust and too old not to fear harm. But before she could take a single step, she saw the ship explode, taking the creatures with it.
He walked over to her, bending on one knee and peering into her eyes. She shied away.
"What's your name?" he asked, his voice greater than the forest itself.
"L-Lorna," she said, her voice a whisper.
"I'm The Doctor."
Doctor. She turned the word over in her head. "Doctor." The hard sounds were foreign on her tongue, smoothed by the language of her people.
"Yes, just The Doctor." His voice seemed softer now, as if he remembered something sad.
It was a title, not a name. If his actions were any indication, it must be one reserved for the mightiest of warriors.
"You were- very brave."
For the first time, Lorna looked into his eyes. She held her gaze, though the anger and brokenness she saw within made her want to run away.
"They're always brave." He said it softly, as though he didn't want her to hear. And then, he looked at her again, and once more she felt the fire in his eyes. "Always help the lost find a way home." Before she could say anything in reply, he was gone.
And so ended the day something happened in the Gamma Forests, the day her world was shattered and made anew. Since the moment he left with those parting words seared upon her heart, Lorna had tried to follow the mighty warrior. She had grown strong so she might fight alongside him. She had climbed the highest trees and swum the fastest rapids so she might not show fear. And now, she would rise up against him for the half-vain hope of seeing him again. She left tonight.
When dappled dusk had fallen and the recruitment ship came to fetch her at last, Lorna caught sight of something left behind on the table. Thinking better of it, she quickly shoved the needle and thread into her bag, in memory of her last advice. Always help the lost find a way home.