Jaz rolled over in his sleeping bag. It had fallen into a ditch during the night from its once cozy place on top of a flat rock. The rock had a stream on one side and the now occupied ditch on the other.

"I need…" Jazz said, as his nose brushed against the dirt in the ditch. "Sake."

He snored loudly and then rolled over on his back. Now, his face had come in contact with mud and was all smeared and covered. He soon felt the brown goo on his face and blinked a couple of time. He opened his mouth, feeling something on his lower lip, and let his tongue venture there.

"Eww! Gross!" he said, jumping up in his sleeping bag. With no control over his legs, he hit a rock and came crashing down, face in a pile of mud. "Shit! Not a nice was to wake up!"

Jaz eased out of the sleeping bag and put his hands on his face. "Eww! Eww! Eww! I need to take a bath!"

Jaz looked toward the other side of the rock- the side with the water. His eyes narrowed as he saw that the water was muddy and looked brackish. "Shoot! Why couldn't I find a better stream!" He headed over to his sleeping bag where he had stowed a bottle of sake.

"Thank heaven!" he said, hugging the bottle and gulping it down. As he was drinking, his face turned towards the ditch. A bit beyond it was another stream… a bigger one. It almost looked clear.

"Score!" cried Jaz jumping up, and letting some sake spill on his shirt. He wiped his mouth and packed the sack he carried on his back. He grabbed the muddy sleeping bag and shoved it into the sack. He made sure his swords were in their sheaths and started walking along the newly found stream, southward.

Jaz walked for a couple of minutes before he found the water clear enough to take a bath in. He set his bags aside and took off his belt. He looked around. He looked back from where he came… downstream. He looked to the right, to the left, and finally in front. His scan of his surroundings stopped there, as he laid eyes on a figure crouched next to the stream, about thirty meters away. He squinted in the dim light and then blinked a couple of times. Suddenly, the figure had disappeared.

"I must be imagining th-" Jaz was cut off. He couldn't breath. Something was around his neck.

"What the hell." He said hoarsely, falling to his knees as his air supply ran short. The thing around his neck followed him down. This object was a rope, fixed firmly in place by two dark hands.

"Say bye." Came a deep voice from behind him.

Calling up all his strength, Jaz clenched his fists and brought them down fast, making the ground in back of him shoot up.

The thing that was strangling him groaned as it smashed to the ground, followed by some rocks.

Jaz turned around and saw it was a person. He had dark skin, a blue outfit, and laid there with his eyes closed. Jaz came closer.

"Dude… are you-" Jaz was swung over into a tree. Something had hit his side.

Jaz blinked, clutching his side, as he saw the figure stand tall, waving some water around in the air.

"You! You hit me!" cried Jaz.

"Baby." Called the deep voice.

"What! I'm no baby!"

"You sure sound like one. Now, get up here and fight! Or… are you scared?"

"No, I'm not scared! I'll have you know that I'm the strongest Earthbender in these parts!"

"Oh, the strongest Earthbender, huh? Well, I'm not weak myself." Said the man, collecting the water in a ball which floated above his hands. "Let's see what you're made of, baby!"

The figure flung the ball of water at Jaz, who put his hand out, making a wall of rock come up before him. The water smashed against it, as Jaz got up and made the wall rush toward the man.

The man just dodged it, and jumped up, pulling a sword from his belt. In a second he came down, right next to Jaz who would have had his head cut off if he hadn't dodged the blow.

"Wow you're fast." Complimented Jaz.

"Thanks. You're not slow yourself… or are you?" said the figure, striking another blow at Jaz's feet, as Jaz jumped up.

"I left my belt by the stream. I'm so dumb. It had my swords on it." Thought Jaz.

"I got it!" Jaz shouted out loud, as the earth shook and a tiny crevice formed in the ground, leading to his belt. Suddenly a rock sprang up under it, making it jump up into the air. The figure looked at the belt. This distraction gave Jaz the chance to leap over to it and grab a sword.

"Prefer swords, don't you?" asked Jaz.

"How did you guess?" laughed the man, stabbing at Jaz.

"What's your name, foe?" said Jaz, dodging and giving the figure a blow.

"I guess I could tell you, considering you'll never live to tell anyone." The man said as he kept fighting.

"You'll be the one dying!" Another blow.

"Yeah, right! The name's Itashi. Your's?" Dodge.

"Jaz." One more strike.

They fought until Jaz flung his sword at Itashi's, making both weapons fall behind them.

"Swords are for babies!" retaliated Jaz.

"OK then. I was going easy on you. Now that that's settled, I'll kill you!" Itashi declared, thrusting another ball of water that he had made in a split second into Jaz's stomach. They came like lightning. One after the other. One ball of water went to Jaz's face, another came at his feet, tripping him. Jaz fell back, blood dripping from his mouth and nose. He felt dizzy. The pain was swelling up inside of him, and as it did so did his anger.

How could this thug beat him up like that? He wasn't better than Jaz. He had to fight back.

Jaz shook his head violently, shaking off the pain and dizziness and leaving only his thirst for revenge.

Seeing that Jaz had regained his senses, Itashi cast another ball at him. He was sure it would finish Jaz off, but to his surprise the ball stopped as it floated in front of Jaz's hand.

The ball was now light brown, and not the regular blue of water. Something had changed it. Jaz smiled a wicked smile. He had taken some sand from the shore and had called it to encircle the ball, turning it into an object he himself could control. Now, as Itashi watched in amazement, more sand gathered around the ball, making it a massive sphere that was floating in mid-air.

With a weak laugh, Jaz sent it flying towards Itashi. Itashi moved to one side, but the ball followed him. He went behind a rock, but the sphere still followed. A loud crash was heard, accompanied by a splash of water.

The action was out of Jaz's view but he knew it was a victory on his part. He smiled and came closer. He went behind the rock.

There, he saw something incredible. The sphere of sand had been split in two. It was hollow. In the middle stood Itashi, face looking at the ground. There was not a scratch on him. Itashi smiled, and looked up at Jaz, as Jaz looked at Itashi in awe.

"You've passed the test." Said Itashi. "You are now worthy."