The Welcoming Show (open)

[Benjiro]

Ba Sing Se, the greatest city in the Earth Kingdom. People from all around the world were making their way to this very spot to either watch, partake, or just enjoy the atmosphere of the Grand Tournament. There would be food stalls set up from each of the different nations, stages set up for people to show off all sorts of skills, and even some strange and exotic animals and items up for sale. Ba Sing Se has become the most popular place in the world, and this was exactly where a trio of performers ended up. 

Though they had not set up inside of the city, instead setting up outside of one of the front gates. It had been a suggestion from a less... crazed Benjiro just a few hours before. The fact that they could grab people's attention before they entered the city with their show should get them some pretty decent pocket change before finding a place inside to set up. After their makeshift stage, bending right up from the ground itself, was created and set up, their show began. The first run through went smoothly almost without issue, and now they were taking a bit of a break before they started the second. 

Benjiro just sat there, staring at the people walking past, a bit of red jennamite growing out of his chin, acting like a strange goatee of sorts. Now and then, it'd grow a bit, covering more of his chin, only for him to 'shave' it using his sand bending. In one hand, he was collecting the crystal sand, swirling it around and creating a small dust devil of sorts. This wouldn't be too bad really, but he was doing it while he was laying off of the stage, the top of his head on the ground, his long hair splashed around his head. 

Without much thought, Benjiro rolled his body to one edge of the stage, before rolling it back to the other side of the stage. He did this a few times before coming to a stop on his side in the middle of the stage. Suddenly, the desire to be on his feet over-took him, and he scrambled wildly for a moment, startling those who were watching the strange display. With both of his arms out in front of him, a tad spread, Benjiro blinked rapidly before letting out a sigh. 

"I am not swimming in milk." He stated, as if any of the confused bystanders had even thought of that as the reason. Standing still, the jennamite beard grew a bit once more, covering his entire chin, but he paid it no heed. "You," he shouted, pointing at an old man who was wearing customary water tribe colors, "jello is not an acceptable piece of clothing!" Benjiro leered at the man as he stood on stage, watching the confused old man move a bit faster away from him.

For a few moments after the old man had left, the leer stayed on his face before a look of confusion took its place. The jennamite had now grown once more, almost covering his mouth and almost giving him the appearance of having side burns. "What happened to my face... my face is heavy... WHY IS MY FACE HEAVY?!" He cried out, before bursting out laughing. "Oh yes... my rock beard... Madam, do I look sexy?"

[Zu Lee]

"You do realize that is not a lady, right?" Zu stood behind his mind-altered friend, while his puppet, completely expressionless, stood posing as a woman, as was the role that this puppet played. It had a jennamite wig, red as could be sitting upon its head. Zu walked past him and slid the wig right off, trying to be careful that it doesn't start eating his hand. The puppet still remained in perfect position, until a gust of wind picked up and knocked it over. "Aw, okay." He sets the wig down upon the ground and put his attention on the lifeless toy.

He stomps the ground, forcing the puppet to bounce before being caught in mid-air by his bending. He had it stand and, with a few waves and adjustments of the fingers, had it sit on the stage for stability. "This was a pretty sweet spot you picked out, Benjiro. Coming or going, were going to be noticed, yeah? How much did we make just now, by the way?" Zu adjusted his outfit a bit, trying to remain as well-dressed as possible. But with his current attire, it was a futile attempt.

[Kylee]

"Two silver pieces," A handful of copper pieces with square holes in the middle fall from a part of the stage that was suspended from above. "three fire pieces," three more pieces of copper fall these ones rectangles with fire emblems on the side. "a dinner roll," Two thirds of a small dinner roll fall behind the coins. "and a rock." As all the pieces near the ground they are given support from airbending and all organize into small sorted piles. Two stacks of Earth Kingdom copper pieces each equaling the equivalent to a sliver piece, and then three fire coins in a separate pile since they were worthless here in Ba Sing Se. One small piece of bread lands on the head of the ceramic doll while the other floats back up and is speared onto the Jennamite beard. The rock fell without support.

Kylee lay on the area above the stage where she had collected the money with airbending, incorporating it into the show. Someone had decided to throw in a rock to watch the effect and she had been fine with 'sucking' it up to the top with everything else. She was currently lying on her back, facing the sky instead of the stage. Meaning she had either planned out the stacking or it was simply such a regular thing that Kylee thought herself perfected at. After dropping the haul she was now stringing her marbles together using more airbending. Making them into small rings around her arms and legs.

[Benjiro]

Benjiro blinked at the thing he thought was a lady, before tilting his head backward to look at Zu as he spoke. As Zu made his way past him, Benjiro flipped his head forward and watched as the other walked up to the lady and pulled her hair off. "Ah... Zu... you so mean... pullin her hair off like that." He said, grabbing his own hair, as if he was afraid he would be next from Zu's hair removal spree. When the puppet fell over, Benjiro gasped and fell back, supporting himself with his hands. "You killed the bald lady!" He exclaimed quietly, before noting that his jennamite beard was now slowly claiming his face.

With the opening and closing of his jaw, Benjiro made certain parts of the jennamite turn into sand, allowing him to move his jaw without restriction. "I know good ground places... lots of feety prints." He said, waving his fingers at the pathway in front of them, even though it was paved. Watching the puppet move, Benjiro swayed his head a little bit, watching it sit down. "Puppy Puppet Player." Benjiro spoke in a soft sing-song voice. "Make? We makin stuff?"

The voice from above made Benjiro jump a bit. "THE SKY IS TALKING!" He called out, before sitting silently, watching as shiny things fell from the sky. He was entranced, lost to the show of the coins making their way down toward them. "Pretty pretty..." He whispered, watching as each thing floated above the ground. As the bread part attached itself to Benjiro's chin, he looked down at it, trying to reach it with his tongue without success. Shaking his head a bit, the jennamite turned to sand and fell off his face, allowing Benjiro to catch the roll before eating it.

"Kylee! Promise me Zu won't steal my hair yeah?" He called up, mouth only partly filled with the remnants of the part of the roll he was given. "Hmm... wait... ah... and here I come..." Benjiro said, shaking his head a bit before coughing a bit. Getting to his feet and adjusting his vest, bending the dirt from his clothes, Benjiro placed a few of the different colors of jennamite crystals onto his arms, allowing them to take hold and begin to grow.

"Well... Now that I'm almost out of my last high... how bout we set up for another show yeah?" Benjiro suggested, slowly letting the jennamite crystals grow more and more.

[Zu Lee]

Zu examined the pile of coins, before picking up the stacks and placing them into a small pouch. It wasn't that he was greedy, he just felt that he was in charge of most things. With Ben in his... Usual state, Zu felt he'd try to eat the money. Any Kylee, well she's somewhat oblivious in Zu'a eyes, and probably doesn't understand the value of the money. I mean, she counted them out perfectly, but if she were in charge, she'd donate the money to a charity rather than buy food. Given the circumstances, Zu was probably the most sane and most responsible one there, often pulling his friends out of trouble and saying things like, "Leave that alone!" Or "Don't bug that man." This did not mean that he was the leader, however. These three had their roles, and it was simply his role to protect and keep them out of trouble. But this was Ba Sing Se! What could possibly go wrong?

"I'm open to suggestions." Zu said as he pulled a rag from his pocket and wiped down his puppet. He always made sure to keep it clean and maintained. "We probably could get out one final act before heading in to find a room. What say you, Kylee, my dear?" To clarify, they were not together. It was in his nature to speak sweetly to most girls he knew, and Kylee was no exception. Such was the way Zu worked, though he'd never try to get with her through nefarious means, keeping his silver tongue to himself... In more than one way.

[Kylee]

"No promises." Kylee said in response to Benjiro's fear of his hair being stolen. She had finished tying up her beads and was just laying there, waiting for something to prompt something out of her, when Benjiro and then Zu suggested doing another show. She didn't really want to but wouldn't say no. She rolled over and peaked her head out from above, getting a look at her two companions. Zu had a look on his face, somewhere between sly and smug, that she had come to associate with him having thought something slightly dirty. Benjiro was starting to look sober, just as he had said he was feeling. Though was letting the Jennamite regrow on his arms.

In response to the questions she simply looked at Zu and shrugged, it made her come off as not caring. Her gaze shifted from Zu to his puppet or more specifically the bread, having already noted Benjiro eating his share. She was hungry but again wouldn't say anything. When she was supposed to eat an opportunity for food would present itself. Maybe someone else would suggest food or maybe it would just to happen to fall in her lap. Kylee also noticed that some how the rock she had dropped down had ended up in the puppets hand that was turned right side up near the end of the stage where the thing was sitting. She had been a little surprised that one of the benders hadn't reacted to the falling rock. Turning it to sand or sending it away. Seeing as its existence was sort of a slap to the face, giving a performer garbage instead of something useful.Not that she minded personally but her companions tended to be a bit less carefree.

[Benjiro]

Benjiro leaned back and cracked his back, before making sure to crack both his neck and his arms, followed by his fingers and ankles. He was relatively loosened up and ready for some good showtime bending, turning the different colors of crystals on his arms into sand and depositing them into small groves in the stage, just out of the eyes of most of the people who would watch the show. There were several thin tunnels in the stone stage, carved out so when he wanted to bend a color of sand, he could channel them through the tunnels and out onto the main stage.

To test this out, Benjiro moved some red sand through the tunnels, constant hand and arm movement making them appear to be like flames, the sand rising only to fall back into itself as more rose. Then, with a quick pull, the sand retreated back into the tunnels and back to the small grove, back where he was. He did this with the blue crystal sand as well, making it move along the surface of the stage, acting like a small pond of water. With his checks finished, he set all the crystal sand up once more and nodded up to Kylee and then over to Zu.

"Alright, the crystal sand is all good to go, though I'll continue making some more in case I loose some to the wind." He said, not aiming it at Kylee, not fully there at the moment mentally. He was still a tad dazed, but he was much more focused now.

[Zu Lee]

Zu paused for a moment, several ideas running through his head all at once. It was weakness of his, for once he had ideas, he always let his mind run rampant with creativity. This would cause him to just stop sometimes as he attempted to focus and think on one idea before moving on to the next. After this uncomfortably long pause, Zu snapped his finger. "Idea!" He exclaimed. "Have we attempted the Dance of Fire and Ice yet? I think Ben's sand could mimic both properly. And with some ambient background music from the lovely Kylee, it could attract some well-paying citizens, yeah?"

The dance he had referred to was one that is usually performed by two benders, a water and fire bender for the respective ice and fire created using the dances. But with a competent sand bender and a few bits of colored sand, they might be able to pull off a mock performance with only one dancer. One who isn't even alive. It was a risky idea, but Zu hoped his confidence in his friends' abilities would inspire them a bit. After all, what did they have to lose? So with a flick of wrist, Zu's puppet stood up and took the stance of a typical fire bender. "Benjiro? Kylee?"

[Kylee]

With the decision to do another performance locked in Kylee released the ties of the marbles she had just put away. They spilled out all over the ledge she had taken nest on and started to rearrange themselves via airbending, entering a set of positions that she thought a tune would work for. Some of them stacked on top of one another while others leaned at various angles. She started testing out some light noises during the awkward pause created by Zu Lee having a 'brain fart' of silence. It was a jug bottle sort of rhythm, not really having a definable beat.

She stopped when Zu started to talk. Then contemplated what was needed for the Fire and Ice dance. Kylee stood and did several airbending moves that pulled air to her and allowed it to build then with a drop of her hands dropped all the air down into many of the marbles at once. Then sound was a deep bellow that would hopefully draw some attention. Then the beat started, but only with a single noise. Like a flute playing solo in some abandoned meadow. It was soon joined by other wind instruments. Each playing their own part. The beat would get faster as time went by so for now she had to trust that her comrades would react quickly to the music and get the show rolling. It had to be started before an audience gathered. They would be more enthralled and hopefully come to more shows hoping to catch the beginning.

Music Here

[Zu Lee]

When Kylee started the music, it would be Zu's cue to begin. So, after hastily taking his place on the side of the stage, he took a stance that had the puppet ready to dance. Zu Lee moved his arms in a very fluid fashion, one you'd never expect from an earthbender. Each swing of his arms, the twirls of his hands and poke of his fingers had moved the shell of ceramics with expertise. It had moved like a regular human being. And even though the dance he had suggested required two dancers, the way that the puppet had been dancing was enough to fit the bill.

He had his part down, moving the puppet to the music, hoping to react to each note with the proper routine and allowing Benjiro his openings to allow his bending to properly simulate the two elements necessary.

[Kylee]

The doll danced its part and the music played. Zu Lee's and Kylee's parts where being executed perfectly. But a third roll was missing, Benjiro's fiery and icy sands. They had started off making pillars of fire and walls of ice that seemed to be pushed and pulled by the doll. But quickly into the show the sands stopped. This happened from time to time, Benjiro had likely passed out. Probably from Cactus overdose. The show was going to fail and no money would be made.

Kylee focused in on her music playing and suddenly switched from two hands to one. The music got slower and darker, it would hopefully give the effect of making it clear something was wrong but make it seem like it was part of the show. Her other hand then started bending a wind stream that traveled over the heads of the small crowed that had gathered so far. The air spun through the crowd then went under the stage, the idea was that it would pull more attention towards the stage. From the slots that the red sand had fallen through they now rose back up. The music started getting fast again, more back on track, but was still missing something. The fire flew around the stage, the small bits of sand carried on the wind. The fire flew into and around the puppet, consuming it in a vortex of air carrying that hopefully looked like fire.

Kylee could only pray that Zu Lee picked up on what was going on. He would need to change the puppets tone to match firs the lack of the two elements, then change it to match the confused music, then change it to experience the fear as it was consumed by fire. From there it was hard to say what would happen. He could either continue the show with the puppet fighting the fire. Or he could attempt to control the puppet with one hand and try and use his own earth bending to control the blue sand. Sandbending wasn't usually one of his skills, but maybe there was something he could pull off. All Kylee could imagine was using the earth under the stage, under the sand, to project the sand upwards. It would look like it was spraying out of the stage to combat the fire that was consuming the puppet dancer that once controlled the two elements. Or maybe he would think of something that had escaped the thoughts of Kylee all together.