A/N: I'm not entirely pleased with this chapter, but I wanted you guys to get this as soon as possible. Also, I posted a picture of the characters mentioned on my pinterest.

Nesbin called Ablif back into her tent and instructed him to look after me. I was to stay with Ablif in his tent until I had learned to hunt and was able to make a home of my own. She whispered a few more instructions to him before finally dismissing us. Ablif guided me out of the tent and through the small encampment to his own dwelling, where he made a makeshift bed out of blankets for me.

"You can sleep here," he grumbled as he settled on his own bed. "Once you learn how to hunt and can make your own kills, you will have your own bed and shelter."

I nodded slowly as I moved to sit on top of the blankets, my satchel clutched against my chest. "Okay," I said softly.

"Now sleep. We will wake at dawn tomorrow and start your training," Ablif said gruffly before lying back on his bed.

Ablif fell asleep within minutes and began snoring soon after. I was still sitting upright on the thin blankets he had arranged for me, but I knew that it would be a long time before I was able to sleep properly with Ablif snoring like a bear beside me. Sighing, I moved so I was lying on my back and had my satchel arranged as a pillow under my head. Suddenly everything was uncomfortable: my clothes, the blankets, the temperature. I turned onto my side and stared at the side of the tent, which I could barely see in the darkness. Just a few moments later I moved so I was resting on my other side and let out another sigh as I tried to settle into a comfortable position.

"Wake up, girl."

I was woken by Ablif shaking me by the shoulder. Feeling slightly disoriented and still very exhausted, I groaned in frustration. Ablif sighed and moved to the other side of the tent where he began to pull on his cloak. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and, after contemplating the pros and cons of going back to sleep, forced myself to sit up.

"Leave your things here. You won't need them."

"What do you mean?" I asked nervously.

Ablif glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and said, "You'll be a little busy training, girl."

With a wave of his hand, Ablif gestured for me to follow him. He guided me outside the tent in silence and to the center of the small encampment where a group of five women, including Nesbin, were waiting for us. They were all standing near the remains of the previous night's fire with a pile of spears by their feet. One of the women, the one who had been on guard when Ablif brought me to the camp, was holding her spear and staring directly at me with an emotionless expression.

"Thank you, Ablif," Nesbin said with a nod in his direction. "You may go now"

Ablif nodded in response before leaving me with the women. Nesbin gestured to the other women with her hand. "Thembalundar, these are your new teachers. They are the best warriors in the tribe and will teach you how to defend yourself."

I nodded wordlessly as I stared straight at Nesbin, too scared to look at the other women. "This," Nesbin continued as she gestured to the dark skinned woman on her left, "is Madeliefraturen and this is Kyra, " she said in reference to the woman who had been on guard the night before.

The two women nodded in acknowledgement, but their faces were void of any emotions so I couldn't tell just what they might bethinking about me. Nesbin crossed her arms over her chest and exaled through her nose as she looked at me. "They will help you train and learn to fight, as well as hunt when the time comes."

"Nesbin says you are from the Prydonian Academy," Kyra said.

"Y-Yes," I stammered with a tiny nod.

"That's a very long journey."

I nodded again and quickly glanced away, letting my eyes fall to the ground. "It was. It took... eighteen days."

"You were very brave to travel across the Endless Fields on your own," Madeliefraturen added. "It is too easy to get lost in those fields."

Nesbin cleared her throat suddenly, drawing Kyra and Madeliefraturen's attention, as well as mine. "I shall be in my tent if I am needed," she said before turning and heading towards her tent.

"Nesbin says you're much like Anoukelsu," Kyra commented. "Timid and young and unable to fight."

"Who's Anoukelsu?" I asked softly.

"Another recent addition to the tribe from the Cerulean Academy. She'll join us later this afternoon for training."

"What would you like us to call you?" Madeliefraturen suddenly asked. "Themba, perhaps?"

I swallowed and nodded once. "Yes please," I murmured.

"Good. You can call me Madelie, then."

"O-Okay."

Self defense training was both easier and more difficult than I had anticipated. Madelie was a strong and capable warrior, but she was surprisingly patient and gentle with me. Kyra was more quiet and reserved, but there was a fire in her eyes that burned in the way she both fought and instructed me. They took me to the lake and began my training there, teaching me first how to block an attack and how to use my opponent's momentum against them. After training from dawn to noon, we took a break to eat and cool off until the suns were a little lower in the sky. Then Anoukelsu would join us in the afternoons and she would learn more fighting techniques while I was taught to improve my strength.

Each day was spent the same way, training and muscle building, and each evening I would pass out in Ablif's tent and sleep soundly until dawn the next day. I was exhausted nearly every day, but was desperate to prove myself to my teachers and to Nesbin. I didn't want to be thrown out for being too weak or useless, so I did my best to keep my complaints to myself and always did exactly what was asked of me.

After the first month, I had grown strong and lean enough to begin learning to fight. The diet I had been forced to eat on Gallifrey was composed of whatever creatures lived in the lake, as well as the native animals of the Wastelands and any vegetation that grew in the desert-like terrain, which meant that I had lost some weight. The more I trained and fought, the leaner and stronger I became until I could finally beat Anoukelsu in a fair fight. I worked hard on my fighting and eventually learned how to handle the simple weapons the Gallifreyans had been forced to use as protection and hunting tools.

Madelie, Anoukelsu, and I had become close friends surprisingly fast during our first month together. Kyra was hesitant to trust me, which I could understand, but although we weren't close I could tell she was impressed with all the hard work I put into my training. Even if she would never admit it to anyone, let alone myself. Anoukelsu invited me to stay in her tent with her instead of living with Ablif and I quickly agreed to her offer, preferring her company to that of gruff and grumpy Ablif who snored all night long.

Despite training, fighting, and even hunting nearly every single day, I found myself growing sad and lonely. I missed the Doctor and the TARDIS with every fiber of my being. Their companionship was something I was used to having all the time and not knowing when I might see them next, if at all, troubled me deeply. I had come to terms with Theta's unfortunate accident and understood why he had done what he did, and I was ready to see him again. But every time I tried to contact him with my phone, the call never made it through all the way.

Instead of focusing on the fact that I couldn't contact the Doctor or any of my other friends, I focused solely on my training and on becoming a better fighter. I learned how to hunt yaddlefish, a fish found in the lake that was brightly colored and tasted remarkably like cod, as well as tafelshrews and trunkikes. I learned how to throw a spear and take down prey, and how to use a knife. I learned how to skin an animal, although the first ten times I ended up losing my dinner at some point. I learned how to sew tafelshrew furs together to make a cloak, then how to make my own tent out of the same furs and skins.

Three months after I had joined the tribe, I lay awake one night staring up at the sky outside my tent. For some reason I missed the Doctor more than ever before that night. I stared up at the still mostly unfamiliar constellations through the orange sky and felt tears well in my eyes. After so many months of being strong and brave, I finally broke down. I was living a lie on an alien world, surrounded by people who would surely cast me out if they knew who I really was, while the man I loved was somewhere out there waiting for me to return to him. I wondered, not for the first or the last time, how long it would be until I saw my Doctor again.

A/N: Please don't forget to review!