The night wind hit Kim's face like ice as she walked along the docks of Salt Blake.
The sea was rough, waves crashing against the concrete pillars.
Flickering lights reflected on the dark water.
"Wendigo at the docks…" she muttered, adjusting the pistol on her holster.
"Roshi really knows how to give birthday gifts."
Through the comm on her jacket collar, his deep voice echoed:
"Focus, Sasha. Wendigos don't hunt for hunger. They hunt out of addiction."
She rolled her eyes. "Relax, old man. I know what I'm doing."
Roshi, hidden inside an abandoned warehouse, watched her through binoculars.
He had prepared safety traps, but he wasn't planning to interfere—
unless it was absolutely necessary.
Kim moved silently between the shipping containers.
The scent of rust, salt, and… something else.
Rotting flesh.
She cocked her gun.
A dry scraping sound came from the other side of the dock.
Something being dragged.
Kim crept forward, careful—
and then she saw it.
The Wendigo was tall and thin, skin stretched tight over gray bones.
Its eyes were hollow white pits, and its mouth — a split line of jagged teeth.
Human remains dangled from twisted, branch-like spines growing from its back.
Kim drew in a breath.
"Okay… no screaming, no freaking out. Just… shoot."
She raised the gun and fired.
The bullet ripped through its shoulder. The creature roared like a starving beast.
In one leap, the Wendigo slammed her to the ground, claws scraping the concrete.
Kim rolled aside and kicked it in the chest.
It stood again—fast, impossibly fast.
"Damn it!" she shouted, dodging a swipe and pulling her dagger.
On the radio, Roshi yelled:
"Sasha, fall back! Now!"
But she ignored him.
With a swift jump, Kim slipped past the monster's claws and stabbed the blade into its neck.
The Wendigo grabbed her shoulders, growling—
and Kim sank her fangs into its arm for just a second before spitting the corrupted blood out.
But it was enough to throw it off.
She spun, kicking it back, and drew her pistol.
"Go to hell, scarecrow."
Three shots rang out.
The Wendigo collapsed—its body twisting before crumbling into ash and cold smoke.
Silence.
Only the ocean returned to its rhythm.
Kim wiped the sweat from her brow, breath still uneven.
"Guess I… passed the test."
From above, Roshi watched her — fingers still tense on the trigger of the gun he never fired.
He smiled. A tired, proud smile.
---
Later, at the Blood's Bar, red lights and low music filled the room.
People — shady and ordinary alike — drank at scattered tables.
Kim, now in a new black jacket and with her hair tied up, sat at the counter.
"A shot of the strongest you've got," she said to the bartender.
Roshi raised a brow.
"You're still too young for that."
She crossed her arms.
"I'm eighteen. And I just killed a Wendigo. I think I earned a drink."
He sighed, giving in.
"One shot. Only one."
She grinned, clinking the glass before taking the sip.
While Kim laughed and chatted with the bartender, Roshi watched from afar.
The girl he had rescued was now a woman — independent, strong.
And somehow… that hurt.
When she finished her drink, Roshi stood up.
"I'm heading home. Stay longer if you want."
Kim frowned, genuinely surprised.
"You're letting me go out alone?"
"I trust you," he said with a soft smile.
"Besides… the world needs to see what you've become."
She watched him leave, feeling an unfamiliar weight tug at her chest.
---
About an hour later, Kim left the bar.
The cold, damp air clung to her skin.
As she walked down the nearly empty street, she heard metallic noises coming from the building's garage.
Glass breaking. A muffled yell.
"Roshi?" she called out, tense.
No answer.
Kim rushed inside — silent, hand already on her gun.
Turning a corner, she froze.
Roshi was there — sweating, a whiskey bottle on the floor and a crowbar in his hands.
He smashed the old car repeatedly — headlights shattered, windows broken.
"Hey!" Kim shouted, running toward him.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Roshi stopped, breath shaking.
His eyes were lost.
Then, he forced a weak, fake smile.
"Ah… nothing. Just… getting rid of memories. And uh… I'm proud of you, Sasha."
"Proud?" she snapped.
"You're destroying the car that belonged to your wife! What's going on with you?!"
He dropped the crowbar, breathing hard.
"I…" he hesitated.
"I rescued you because you reminded me of my daughter."
Silence
— heavy, suffocating.
"Not in the looks," he continued, voice raw.
"But in your spirit. Stubborn. Brave. Reckless."
"After my wife died… I lost myself. I was a terrible father."
"And when I saw you on that street… I thought maybe…
I could fix things. Be the father I failed to be."
Kim's eyes filled with tears as she stepped closer.
"But now you've grown up. You're strong. Becoming someone independent.
And that terrifies me because… deep down…"
— his voice cracked —
"I'm scared you'll leave me too."
She didn't think twice.
Kim wrapped her arms around him — tight.
Roshi froze at first, then slowly melted into the hug, silent tears running down.
"I'll never leave you, Roshi," she whispered.
"You gave me a home. A reason to live when no one else cared.
You proved that being helped isn't a weakness."
He closed his eyes, face buried in her hair.
The distant sea filled the space between their breaths.
Kim stepped back slightly, wiping a tear — but smiling.
"And… I have something to tell you."
"What is it?"
She inhaled.
"My name isn't Sasha. It never was."
Roshi blinked, caught off guard.
"It's Kimberly. 'Sasha' was just a name I made up to survive."
Roshi stayed quiet for a moment — then smiled, emotional.
"Kimberly, huh? Beautiful name."
"Yeah." She smiled back.
"And now you know who I really am."
They sat there — next to the destroyed car — crying and laughing all at once.
No master. No apprentice.
Just two broken souls who found each other and somehow rebuilt something whole.
That night, the noise of the docks gave way to something stronger:
the quiet but powerful sound of a bond finally becoming family.