“No.” She answered bluntly.

The sharpener continued to rake across the sword’s edge with a resonating zing! A small shower of sparks fell with each stroke, giving off that gunpowder smell.

She lifted the blade and studied it with laser like focus, ignoring the mangy punk at her doorsteps.

“Well, then...” he muttered. “So much for that...”

“Get lost.” The girl remarked.

Hanzo furrowed his brow. He didn’t know what was up with this girl’s attitude.

“Hey, I ain’t trying to cause problems here. The old man just sent me over here for some stupid—“

His sentence was abruptly cut short when the girl suddenly sprang at him with the sword aimed for his throat.

“I saidscrew off!!”

Hanzo’s fighting instincts kicked in like a flash and he dipped to the side. The edge grazed his ear. He swung at her face.

She dipped under and thrust her hand toward him. A swirling bolt of water punched him hard in the chest and blew him several feet back.

Water techniques!!!

Soaked, he sprang forward and crossed swords with the girl. They battled on, blades colliding countless times with a blend of acrobatic swordplay.

The girl thrust her blade into the ground and bursts of water shot from beneath the earth, sending Hanzo reeling. He was hit against a tree and barely had enough time to recover when she came at him again. He blocked the attack and dipped sideways. The blade left a deep scar in the trunk.

He moved in, driving his sword at her stomach but she stepped on it and kicked him in the face.

Fury suddenly overcame him and he swung her off effortlessly.

Then he launched himself in the air, higher than usual, and swung his sword down. The emblem on his sword brightened and a huge green blast fired at the ground. The girl barely dived away as the blast caused an explosion, leaving an enormous crater behind. The boy was blown out of the sky, spinning in circles before hitting the ground.

Drunken by dizziness, he lifted himself up and grabbed his sword before the girl could reach him.

Gritting his teeth, he charged at her with an emerald singe burning in his eyes.

Without warning, a massive explosion of water sent them both flying.

They looked up and saw two enormous water spirits glowering above them.

Hanzo was speechless.

The girl, obviously used to these kind of events, dived at the shimmering sea giants. Water burst into a fury of mist as she ripped through them mercilessly, passion brewing in her eyes. Hanzo grabbed his sword and swung at one water spirits that raised an arm at him. A sudden bolt of water flushed him back and he nearly drowned.

He spilled into the crater that now became filled with water.

The girl was still fighting and Hanzo was getting pissed because she could fight fairly well. Fortunately, one of the spirits snatched her up and flung her in the crater with him.

She swam up to the surface to finish the beasts off but it was too late. The giants had already collected a huge sphere of water from the air around them. Whirlwinds of mist swirled into the sphere at dramatic speeds, causing the trees to bend and turn dry by the second.

The water in the crater started evaporating. Even the wetness in the two youngster’s clothing started to bleed out.

“Holy hell...” Hanzo exclaimed.

This was the craziest thing he’d seen in a while.

Suddenly, an eerie screech sounded off and the water demons turned to ice. “Go back to the ocean you spineless cockroaches!” A thunderous voice boomed. By command, the water monsters exploded into a great white cloud. A silhouetted figure appeared at the edge of the crater. His long scarf waved in the wind and as the mist cleared, Hanzo was extremely disappointed to find that it was the old man from before instead of an epic warrior, or Odyssey for that matter. “These water spirits sure are something… had to use the big voice to send ‘em off.” The old fool chuckled.

“Old man!” Hanzo shouted, “What’s with this girl? I asked—“

“Shut up!” she shouted. “You're the idiot that came over here and destroyed my whole yard!!”

The old man hopped down from the edge into the hole below with a smile on his face. “Now, now, Naomi… If you had just given him what I needed, it wouldn’t have turned out like this.” The girl was looking at the old man, killing intent clearly visible in her sharp eyes.

“Fine..” She relaxed a little, “Just make surehestays out of my vicinity...Eternally.” The girl handed the old man some beef jerky which happened to be what the old man needed. Hanzo looked on in pure annoyance. “That’s what you needed? All this insanity for some beef? What the hell was the point of sending me over here, huh?!” The old man wasn’t paying any attention. He continued munching and yanking at it. Hanzo picked up his sword and began to climb up from out of the crater.

This is retarded. None of this crap is making sense. I’m gonna find that idiot, Odyssey and demand real training. If he's a phony too then I'm getting the heck up out of this god awful place.

The girl named whos name was Naomi, left and returned to her house. Hanzo and the old man left her yard as so not to disturb her once they continued their so called training. “So…?” Hanzo began waiting for the old man to finish eating his jerky.

“You want some? It’s mighty delish.” said the old man sticking the beef in Hanzo’s face. He smacked the beef away in disgust.

“No, you idiot!! Is this what you call training??”

“This??” The old man replied, “No, silly! I just wanted some beef!”

“Screw the damn beef! You said you were going to train me, so train me!!”

“Of course!! But your going to need your partner first old pal!”

“Mypartner??” Hanzo shouted. He was moments away from chopping this moron’s face open like a cantaloupe.Is he talking about that stupid girl??

“Hey, Skeeter!” The old man called out.

“This guy right here is gonna be your lifelong partner! Take good care of him and make sure he gets himself good treatment!”

Hanzo had no idea who in God’s name the fool was talking to until he looked to his left and found a bizarre watery figure standing right beside him.

He shouted in alarm and fell on his behind. This thing called Skeeter looked to be one of the water spirits that he’d just been fighting a moment ago, except this one was much smaller.

He had a lean, humanoid physique entirely made of crystal clear water.

He had no face except for two radiating lights in his head which Hanzo assumed to be his eyes.

Although he learned about these types of beings in school, it was his first time actually seeing one. It was a chilling encounter to say the least.

Alright! It’s time for your first sparring match.” The old man blurted out happily. “Begin!”

Hanzo barely had time to question the command when he was pummled by a bolt of water that sent him somersaulting through the forest. He looked up spewing water from his mouth as Skeeter came sliding towards him for another attack. He picked up his sword and struck the spirit, but he exploded like a water balloon sending Hanzo flying again. He tried to shear him in pieces but his limbs continued to regenerate.

The water spirit grabbed him by the jacket and flung him into the air like a pebble.

Colorful words fumbled out of his mouth as he spun in an endless circle.

The spirit flew at him and punched him like a beach ball. He hurtled earthward and struck down on a rocky ledge with a boom.

His whole body ached as he lay motionless squinting at the bright sun, wondering if he’d live to see it set again.

He thought of going to sleep right there until Skeeter appeared before him with his arm raised to strike again. Hanzo instinctively gripped the sword and cleaved through the watery man.

The gemstone flashed violently and caused yet another crushing explosion. Rocks flew. Dirt sprayed and spirit pressure stung the air.

Hanzo hurtled downhill smashing various body parts on sticks and stones on the way down. Finally he hit rock bottom, knocking his skull against a large turtle shell and passed out right there, sprawled in the dirt.