The Doctor took a deep breath. Donna stood back in silence, somehow understanding that though she did not know what was going on, she should not try and interfere. The Doctor touched some knob on the console lightly and twisted it. He walked around slowly to the other side, pressing buttons and pulling levers as he went.
The crystal tubes in the very center of the console stretching up towards the ceiling began to pump up and down as the sentient ship breathed wheezily. The floor tilted slightly one way and then the other as the gravity center gained its balance. Then, just as it had started, the commotion stopped. Witha'an strode over to the door. The Doctor followed so he could open it, and also so he could bid his new friend farewell.
Good luck, the Doctor told him.
Doctor. This has nothing to do with luck. Farewell, and thank you.
Farewell. The Doctor pulled the door open with its usual creak. Donna gasped at the sight of what lay beyond the doors: a battle-scarred planet of grey stone, and a struggle as primitive as any fight could be, covering the whole surface, as far as the eye could see. Creatures that looked like Witha'an and many kinds that didn't were locked in claw to claw, tooth to tooth combat. The corpses of the dead and the shrieks of the dying littered and echoed across the land.
Witha'an trotted out to join them. He paused for one moment before leaping out into the fray. The Doctor felt the last remnants of their telepathic connection fade away as he furiously tried to block the mental screams for help coming from every other Hynnae and several other species in the war. But he did not let go completely. He kept watch of Witha'an as the small alien leapt on top of another, larger creature. A brief struggle ensued, but it ended shortly. The other creature locked its jaws around Witha'an's neck and snapped it.
The Doctor cried out softly at the sharp spike of pain and sudden disappearance of his link to the Hynnae. He stumbled backwards, closing the TARDIS doors with a slam and frantically pushed away contact from the rest of the agonized aliens. He couldn't bear all of them dying inside his mind. Never again.
Donna could not question what had just happened. The Doctor needed her not to. She went up to him quickly and took his shoulders, leading him away from the door and to the pilot's chair (not that he ever sat in it while he was flying the ship) and he collapsed into it gratefully. He reached forwards with one hand and placed it on a smooth grey panel on the side of the console. Somehow, he didn't need to do anything more than that for the TARDIS to respond and take them far, far away.
I'm sorry, I had to do it. Um, this is why the rating got bumped up to K+, I literally was not expecting to go this dark when I started writing. I didn't even know that Witha'an was going to be in it when I started. I sort of figured it out as I went along. This is the second to last chapter! It's Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas. I love you all.