“Hello Master.”

She walked into the Dojo. Master Steve was in the office he kept in the corner of the room, a converted utility closet. He turned when she spoke, salt and pepper beard showing that he was not as young as he had been when they first met but then again neither was she. He smiled.

“Kyndall, I haven’t seen you here lately.”

“No, Master, you haven’t.”

“Do you think your training is at an end?”

That she had to think about long and hard. At one point she had knowing there was nothing more she could learn in this place in the practical sense. She was a black belt and never wanted to move beyond that into degrees. It was all semantics, anyway, beyond that point. Now she wasn’t so sure. It felt to her like an alcoholic falling off the wagon.

“No, Master, and I think that’s my point. I’ve…I’ve been using what you taught me in ways that haven’t been simply to defend.”

She’d been the aggressor in certain fights and though she told herself it was to defend or for a good cause she wasn’t so sure anymore. The master of the dojo’s eyes widened as he heard that and leaned back in his chair. She was a diligent student and very good at what she was taught. She’d been invaluable to him over the years, helping to demonstrate in class or tutor students one on one when he didn’t have the time to.

“What do you mean, Kyndall? You’ve been starting fights? Why?”

At her age and with her training this wasn’t something he expected to hear. She hesitated and sat down in the chair behind him. He turned and folded his hands like a priest waiting for confession. She pulled in a deep breath.

“I’ve instigated some of the fights, yes. I told myself it was for a good reason and now I’m not so sure my heart was in the right place. Hurting people goes against everything you ever taught me and everything inside that says what’s wrong and right.”

“So why did you do it?”

“Because I thought I had to. I thought these people were hurting others and most of me still does.”

“You were defending other people? That’s within the strictures of what you were taught, Kyndall.”

Yes and no. There was the grey area. She was defending other people, civilians, but not always directly. The violence had already occurred most of the time by the time she arrived and the energy was stolen. She was striding a thin line between justice and revenge. Of course, she didn’t count youma among her guilt. They were mindless and destructive creatures bent on their goals and not much else. There was nothing in them to suggest they were capable of mercy or even conscious thought.

“I don’t know if it’s defense or revenge.”

“Were you angry?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because they hurt someone. They used them for their own gain.”

“Did you hurt them in return, intentionally?”

“Yes, Master, I did.”

“Did you like it?”

She was startled by the question. Most of her rebelled at that one idea of even remotely enjoying someone else’s pain but the other part of her was quiet and defeated.

“I have started to.”

“Then you must stop, Kyndall. It is not in your nature to hurt anyone and if you keep this up you will only hurt yourself in the end.”

“It’s not that simple, Master.”

“Of course it is. Come back to the Dojo. I could use the help with the new students and perhaps it will help you to remember the basic tenants you once held dear.”

Her eyes flooded with tears. “Yes, Master.”