Valkyrie's Last Warrior

Chapter 9

*Refer to the updated trigger warnings.

As Valkyrie walked into her apartment, she felt invigorated. It had been forever since the last time she was in a bona fide fisticuff. Valkyrie had spent most of her life studying martial arts. She was sixth degree black belt in taekwondo, fourth degree black belt in hapkido, practiced under a jujitsu master for eight years, and she started Krav Maga practice about five years ago. Valkyrie was absolutely lethal with a weapon, but she was just as efficient in dealing damage to her opponent without a weapon as well. However, to her chagrin, it was rare that she got to put her martial arts practice to use.

In reality, the reason she began learning martial arts wasn't to become combat-efficient or for self-defense, but to discipline her mind, to ground and center herself during times of high stress and even higher stakes. Valkyrie's memory of meeting Master Park at her local YMCA, for the first time at age eleven, was still vivid. By that time, she had been abandoned and homeless for several years, but during the fall of that year, she had found herself in a local YMCA homeless youth program after being picked up by the police.

The police and social services had initially tried to place her in a foster home, but she had lied and convinced her social worker that the best place for her was in a residential program instead. When the opportunity for the youth program came up, she jumped for it; anything to keep from having to be in the foster care system. She had to lie about her age so that she could qualify for it. Good thing too, because that's how her path crossed with Master Park's.

Every Tuesday, Master Park came to the YMCA and volunteered his time, teaching the kids from the homeless youth program, Taekwondo. He couched it as learning to protect oneself, but what he really taught was self-discipline, focus, and most importantly, respect for oneself and others. Valkyrie welcomed anyone who offered to teach her how to protect herself. Out on the streets, a young girl like her, who was already small for her age, often unwittingly invited attention from creeps of all ages and walks of life. So, having a way to protect herself, or better yet, get herself out of a tight situation seemed immensely useful to her.

Master Park was a tall and lean, South Korean man in his early 30s and had been teaching taekwondo for almost a decade by then. His young wife accompanied him every once in a while, and she too was generous and kind. The first day she had walked into a small group exercise room in the YMCA, he had welcomed her with a smile. He had asked her how old she was, and Valkyrie lied, telling him that she had just turned thirteen. Master Park's eyebrows raised briefly, but he didn't say anything about it. Imagine an eleven-year-old girl, who was already small for her actual age, telling him that she was two years older. Obviously, he was skeptical, but he never turned her away.

She had stayed at the homeless youth program at the YMCA for a total of eight weeks and had attended Master Park's taekwondo practice every week. When her time was up and she was to be sent to a group home, Valkyrie had approached Master Park at the end of her last class and said, "Master Park, I want to thank you for letting me in your class. I really wish I could continue, but my social worker said they're sending me to a group home somewhere at the end of this week. I just wanted you to know that I'll always remember your teachings. Who knows, maybe I can get a job and when I have some money, I can start going to classes of my own."

Master Park shook her outreached hand before he got down to one knee and said, "Listen, young lady. Here is my card. It has my contact information and the address to my taekwondo school's dojang. If you're ever in need, you come by. I'll give you a job, let you take classes for free. Does that sound good?"

Young Valkyrie nodded enthusiastically before she threw her arms around the man's neck and said, "Thank you, Master Park. For everything."

When she was shipped off to a group home, almost an hour away from the YMCA, she didn't return to the area for almost eight months. After spending a few weeks at the group home, Valkyrie knew she couldn't stay there, long term. Every single night, girls of all ages, and some of the younger boys, were sexually abused by the older boys, and sometimes, even by the overnight staff. By keeping a very low profile and blending into the background, she was able to hide from being targeted by the older residents.