The Performance! <Zhy, Earth Kingdom>

[whitecrow]

Darkness was beginning to settle onto Zhy early this evening as the Caravaners set up inside the city. Few people were out on the streets, many hastily finishing dinning or just staying out of the way of the wayward travelers who were running about the streets of the Earth Kingdom Village like hooligans.
The Flame Dancers were in town and many of their wagons and various other stages on wheels or food service had been brought in. The Women had been spending all day cooking up delicious treats by the hundreds for the hungry patrons. After all.. the girls can't sweet talk all the gold the Flame Dancers would need out of the men by themselves. Sometimes the way to a man's stomach and purse is only by food.
Tapestries, banners, and ribbons had been strung up over many of the posts of the city, thrown over fences and through the branches of trees. The Children took care of decoration mostly, as that was something they were good at seeing as it allowed them to run around like crazy folk, screaming their fool heads off. It gave the women a chance to catch a breather, of course.
The various performance areas, some on stages, some on the ground all had to be prepped. A stage had to be built from prefabricated pieces (thankfully) and areas cleared out and free of dangerous brush for some of the bending arts. The earth was cleared of grass in a nearby field so that the Earth Benders could have plenty of nice clean dirt, and the Fire Benders wouldn't catch anything on fire. Ceramic jars of water had been brought out and settled nearby, for the water benders and also in the case of said fire, ...or if the twins got too drunk. One or the other, whichever happened first.
Speaking of the twins, with Li having brought a wheel back for the Ladies, they had been separated all evening and surprisingly.. seemed in no hurry to reunited. They wandered by each other in passing, but with both of them having been given separate tasks by Juning and the other elder women of the caravan for once instead of their usual.. "Stay out of trouble" order, their chances to box heads with each other were few and far in between. Now as the final decorations, stages and props were going out and being set up, the two twins had slipped away to change into their Agni Kai uniforms, which was what they usually wore when preforming at all. They had gathered on the outskirts of town, awaiting to begin the big Ta-Da-like parade into town to begin the 'Fire Days Festival'. Surrounding them was a sea of various nations; Many sported red, but some sported their own nation's colors. Zhy was an annexed town, with the majority of it's inhabitants Earth Kingdom. Very few families were of Fire Nation organ, and thus the Flame Dancers could do without all the Fire Nation Propaganda they had to put on within other, more directly Fire Nation controlled colonies.

The Twins were first in a group of performers, leaning in closely to a scribble list tacked to a tree listing the performances that were to take place this evening. It looked like the twins not only had their Agni Kai, but also, Li had a battle scheduled with Auina Kym, one of the battles where the crowds reaction would gauge the winner. Chances are, it would be Auina tonight seeing as their current location seemed to favor the Earth side just a bit. Surely, the few Fire Nation officials would not be happy, and the Governor would probably throw a temper tantrum.. but what could you do but give the people what they want?

[katara]

Trudging slowly, head downcast and hands humbly clenched in front of him, Jet wandered the streets of Zhy, keeping a sharp eye out for danger. He stuck to the shadows, blending in with the muddy walls and muddier streets. Ahead was the other district, full of laughter and rambunctious noises.
Jet wandered towards the crowds and immediately gaped with surprise. It was the Fire Nation. On one side he saw them taking advantage of the enormous amounts of food and women and on the other side, they were terrifying the crowd with fire bending. Stumbling backwards, he almost collided with an angry-looking official. All of them were Fire Nation. The laughter seemed forced, as if to plead with the Fire Nation. Instead of the cheerful festivities that Jet expected to see, he gazed upon a brutal dominion of the Earth Kingdom citizens.
Jet half-ran and half stumbled back towards the quiet alleys of the residential areas and swore to himself. "I will rid this town of those Fire Nation scum." Wide, frightened eyes peeked through rotten shutters to look at the strange man passing by and to stare fearfully at the fire at the other side of town.

[pamuy]

While colorfully-clad performers did the same, a woman in clothes of deep violet and pale blue stood beside one of the caravan's wagons, completing her attire by clasping a vivid blue cloak around her neck. Lowering her petite hand to a gourd-like water bottle on the ground, she immediately rose it away from the jug along with a small stream of clear liquid.

One of the few waterbending members of the Flame Dancers troupe, Pamuy bended the water between her hands, and soon seperated the single mass into several watery globes that hovered around her hands. She spun a few in midair, moved them around, and even caused one or two of them to be aglow with a healing aura. Ever since she had learned this technique years ago, bending glowing orbs of water was a common fixture in her performances. Surely, Zhy's audience would be amazed, as most of the citizens had probably never seen waterbending in their life.

She moved away from the wagon's edge while still balancing the water orbs in midair. Twirling a few times with the orbs of water, her billowing cloak flying out to the sides, Pamuy's concentration and focus while bending was incredible. When the time of performance came later, Pamuy wouldn't let a thing break her concentration. But now was the time to practice, as most of the caravan's performers were doing at that time.

[shaku]

"Ugh, where ARE they!?" a young voice whined, crying out in exasperation.

Sandy taupe eyes were clearly reflecting the distress that young Shaku Keyaki was feeling. She had been practicing with the rest of the taiko drum ensemble just before the mid day meal...and sometime between the end of that practice and now, she had misplaced her drum sticks. She was trying to retrace her steps, having a bit of difficulty remebering where in the process she'd lost them. She'd already checked in and around where the cooking had taken place and where she'd taken her meal, but the little sticks were nowhere to be found!

Where did I go after I ate?

Well...she and many others her age had helped with the decorations (with exception to Fukurou who seemed content to sit and brood)...so she scurried about where the various banners had been hung and such. Still, the drumsticks eluded her...

Mom had sent me to buy some things...

Mentally she thought back on her trek down mainstreet. She'd stopped by a general supply store to pick up fabric and sewing supplies. There'd been a very cute boy outside the store too, who she'd thoroughly enjoyed speaking with. Then there'd been that group of boys that were loitering a few blocks down she'd chatted it up with. Then there'd been that boy at the edge of town, herding the llama-goats.

The young girl let out a sigh. She couldn't remember leaving the drumsticks anywhere in the town. Maybe Bai had seen them about?

She dashed about the camp site, each movement jostling her unruly hair from the bun she'd smoothed it up into. Tendrils of dark taupe hair soon hung limpily about her pale face.

"Baaaaai?"

After the girl had searched around a bit, she found a bunch of performers gathered around a list that had been posted to a tree. And there she saw Bai, with his twin Li.

"Bai! Bai, have you seen my drumsticks anywhere?" Shaku asked, panting and breathless at this point from all the running around she'd been doing.

[gijoespouse]

Auina had been relieved when they returned to the Caravan, new wheel in tow. Once the coins had been returned to Juning, the acrobat had headed back to the wagon she shared with her family. She needed to do a minor bit of mending to her performance costume, and the mishap with the wheel had interrupted that chore. She went about the task as quickly as she could, poking her finger several times in her haste with the needle. Finally though, the repair was done, and she was donning her performance garb.

She exited the Caravan, nursing a bleeding fingertip by holding it in her mouth, and made her way to where a group of performers were gathered about what looked like a sheet of parchment. The performance list. She passed Pamuy, who was already practicing her routine. She offered the waterbender a wave, before she slipped in with the other performers.

The earthbender came up beside Li, finger tip still in her mouth, while her free hand pushed back a strand of mahogany hair away from her face. She was up for her acrobatics act early on, but it looked as if she would be doing a 'battle' with Li as well. She was pleased that they were performing at an occupied town...it meant she would probably end up the winner, as the victor was always decided by the cheers of the crowd. Inevitably, when they performed in front of Fire Nation troops, she always came away with singed hairs and had to patch up her costume.

Cappucino shaded eyes glanced to her side, to gaze at Li. Hopefully he wouldn't let his flames get too close. While trying to make the fight realistic was a plus, since it really got the crowd on its feet...the smell of burnt hair was not pleasant, in the slightest.

[blackcrow]

"Well Well Well.. Seems we've got another little Lover's Quarrel again, Auina." Li would coo to the Earth Bender as she came up beside him. He turned his head, his eyes narrowing as he looked at her with a pleased smile on his face. One of his famous, seductive smiles. His lips parted a for a moment, he ran his tongue over them lightly, not in the sexual way for once, but in a 'Hey, my lips are chapped' sort of way as he turned his head back to the pinup. "And Bai's might be in the the Dance of the Elements with Sahara and Zahira (the two lovely Fire Nation women)... That's got a question mark by it." Li would chuckle, his dark lips spreading across his hallowed cheeks. "That is.. if the ladies can put up with him trying to flip their skirts up with his flames. He is after all, .. the showy one with the flames. I just make colored fires. Looks like that's the Opening Act.. Starting out with Fire, Earth, Water and then Air..."

He turned again to Auina, his arms folded across his chest. His Bare chest. Yes, he had already changed into his Agni Kai gear. His chest was bare, while rolled bands of copper sat on his arms, just above his biceps. Both twins wore pants with high and wide waistbands of dark bole, a creamy sort of brown that had been over-dyed so that the fabric was very dark. The waist bands were tied tightly, but the ties were hidden under the folds. Their pants were dark parachute pants, Falu red in color after the Falu flower which was used as a dye. The pants were tied off at the knees, their legs bare and their feet dirty, not that was anything new.

"You still remember that new trick you and the other Earth Benders are going to do to create the illusion of an Air Bender...? Li wasn't sure who had come up with the idea, but the Earth Benders had sewn small stones inside the clothes of the young boy who was going to be playing the Air Nomad. The majority of the stones were in a harness, and the Earth Benders would be behind the stage and under it, causing the stones to fly.

Meanwhile, across the way, Bai was practically at the gathering group of performers (just behind Li almost) when he heard little Shaku call out to him. The twin whipped around, his dark hair flying in his face as he put his fists on his hips. He too was dressed in Agni Kai clothing, his dark maroon robe slung over the crook of his arm. He tilted his head, the white beads of his braids blowing under his chin while the tails of his bandanna flapped up into the sheet of hair.
"Your drummies, Shaku?" He lifted his chin, glancing about while he held his hair back from his face. He then pointed toward a tree stump that was near where the Taiko drums were set up, ready to be move. "That them over there?"

[gijoespouse]

A smile curved on Auina's lips as Li spoke to her, removing the finger she'd pricked numerous times from her mouth as she regarded him fully. He was in full costume already for the Agni Kai act, which was no surprise there. Most of the performers, including herself, were already in costume at this point. Her hand drifted to feel the seam she'd had to repair on the side of her midriff bearing top. It felt like there was loose thread there. Had she made a mistake in mending? She was flexible, but not enough to get a good glimpse to examine her handiwork.

Auina was scowling, trying to take a look at the seam of the dingy white top she wore, as she responded, "Well, the crowds seem to like the faux battle, especially the troops. Just be careful not to put any holes in my costume this time. Sometimes you cut the flames way too close, and I always end up with singed hair and holes in inappropriate places."

Yeah...she was pretty sure some of that was on purpose...

"I think we figured out the kinks in making it look like our 'air bender' is actually air bending....ugh! Li, can you take a look at this seam? It feels like there's a loose thread and I can't see for sure..."

She turned, moving her arm out of the way so the twin could get a look. It was minor at best if a thread was loose...but Auina was a bit of a perfectionist by nature, and knowing that there had been a mistake in her needlework would annoy her to no end.

[shaku]

Shaku turned, so that her gaze was following Bai's line of sight. Sure enough, she spied the tree...and her drum sticks laying next to the roots of said tree. Apparently when she'd searched that area, she'd missed them entirely. Shaku squealed gleefully, turning and throwing her arms around Bai's waist.

"Thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU!" she blurted out excitedly. "Dad would've killed me if I'd lost another pair of drumsticks!"

The statement was far from the truth though. Everyone amongst the gypsies knew Nagado Keyaki to be a doting papa, and often was chided by his wife Byou for not disciplining the girl when she needed it. Most likely, he would've given her a stern lecture if Byou was hanging about...and once Shaku's mother was out of site, would have offered to help her find them, a wide smile on his face.

Shaku released Bai from her grip, bringing a rough hand up to bush back some of the stray strands of dark taupe hair that had freed themselves from her bun. Her nearly golden shaded eyes were sparkling with excitement of the coming evening...

And then her smile faded a bit as she heard her mother's voice ring out sharply, "Shaku, you better get back to the wagon this instant if you plan to wear this vest tonight!"

That's right...her saffron colored vest...the previous vest had gotten caught on something sharp and had been ruined. Byou, after getting on to the girl, had begun working on a new one for her, and had been stressing about getting the vest completed in time for the performance in Zhy. Most likely, Byou wanted to make sure the vest was going to fit alright...

"Gotta go. See ya Bai!" she said in a hushed voice, before working her way out of the crowd of performers.

In her haste to get her drumsticks and get back to her mother, she didn't pay close attention to where she was going. Shaku's short body bumped into that of Pamuy as the waterbender practiced her routine. Normally the young lady would pause, bow politely, and offer her apologies...but she was in quite a hurry. So instead, she kept on her course, shouting back...

"I'm sorry Miss Pamuy!!"

[pamuy]

Pamuy was engrossed in her bending, streaming veils and tendrils of water all about, in tandem with her rythmic movements. She was careful not to bump into the other performers in her vicinity, just as she assumed they were careful not to do the same. Though a sudden nudge struck her in the back and she lost concentration for a split-second, she was able to catch her water before it splattered on the ground.

Turning around to see the source of the jostle, she saw her fellow caravaner Shaku running off, shouting she was sorry. Shaku was a nice girl, who seemed to try keeping herself out of trouble. Pamuy liked that. The waterbender offered a wave while balancing the blob of water above her other hand, and then decided she'd had enough practice. She strode over to her water jug and bended the water back inside, then rubbed her hands together.

Moving gracefully around the side of the wagon, she spotted the main performance area - The one where she would perform all by herself. Clearly she was in the right mindset, but despite her confidence in her abilities, the butterflies in her stomach seemed to have turned into sparrowkeets by then. Standing in shadow between two wagons, she would try to keep a low profile until it was her turn in the lineup.

[kavik]

Zhy is where the waterbender vagabond was at now. Dirty with a growing beard and long shaggy hair. Kavik was a mess. His ocean blue eyes were almost dead and empty. Like shallow pools,

Kavik was on his last legs, He had no money and food was scarce, he had been travling for months with little food, or water. Denali was getting weaker as well. Soon he would be of little use to Kavik. Things were very dismal for Kavik. He just realized what a mistake all of this was. He would never find Ba Sing Sae he would never find Hoji. Kavik knew he was too far to go back home and too far to give up. Kavik felt very lost and trapt.

The hussle and bussle of Zhy provided a nice distraction for the waterbender as he looked at the bright colors and streamers of the arrival of the flame dancers. Kavik thin frame grumbled as he looked for a place where could find food for himself and his mount. Denali made a soft noise and nosed his master.
"Shhh, it's ok Den, we will find something right?" Kavik looked around and found where the caravan was. A dangerous idea was conceived in his brain. Kavik figured that with ostrich horses and lots of performers there should be a surplus in food. With that noted, Kavik it should be alright if he relieved the preformers of their excess. It was dangerous, but Kavik was boarding on desparate and if he didn't eat soon, then finding Hoji would be the very least of his problems next to starvation.

After leaving Denali in the shadows he skulked around the campsite looking for anything that might be food. Until he found a basket of ripe apples. Score! Without hesitation Kavik stuffed the apples in his sachel making sure he didn't get caught. He finally walked over to where he though he saw cabbages he could nab when felt someone was watching him. He turned around. "Uh oh"

[blackcrow]

"Go knock 'em dead, Shaku!" Bai would call after the little drummer dashed off to snatch up her beloved sticks. He chuckled, glancing to his brother with a smile who had turned from Auina to watch his twin.
He narrowed his eyes in play, looking at Auina for a moment, and then lifting his brows towards Li. Was Li back serenading the Earth Bender or something? Li lifted one of his lips in a sneer at Bai, quickly erasing the inquisitive look off of Bai's face.

He raised a hand to his mouth, covering an obviously faked cough as he looked away for a moment to gather his thoughts. Bai lurched back into the conversation with a cheery, happy smile spread across his face as he crossed his arms over his bare chest, robe folded in the nook of his elbow. "So.. Whadda ya say we go get that Dance of the Elements all done with? Auina, you're doing the Earth Bending part of it, right? Pamuy's taking charge of the Water Bending Part of it. Sahara's got the Fire Bending.. and whose going to be our Air bender?" Bai asked his twin and Auina, looking from each of their faces to the list behind them.
"Hm.. Oh the little Akiyama boy? Oh nice.. he's small.. should be easy to lift." He murmured, looking specifically at Auina as all the Earth benders would be involved in this act. The pebbles sewn into the outfit were so tiny.. that the power necessary to lift even a small child was a lot.

Li rolled his eyes for a moment, having heard his brother go through the acts over and over again. Bai always liked to know all the details, it was what allowed him to be everywhere in a sense. He loved to show up right before a show and send the Ladies in that particular show off. "C'mon Bai.." He muttered, grabbed his brother's arm as he nudged Auina forward." Auina's got to get to the stage.. Father's going to send the first firework up any min-" And right on cue, a bright yellow firework soared skyward, whistling as it rose, exploding above the Caravan in a shower of sparks.

It was time for the Dance of the Elements.

[shaku]

Byou clucked and fussed over Shaku as she placed the newly made saffron vest upon her daughter, then worked furiously to tame the girl's hair back into a tidier bun. While all of this was going on, Nagado and the rest of the ensemble were getting the drums set up near the stages. Shaku shifted from foot to foot, excited and anxious to get out to begin performances. She was always like this before the show, a bundle of energy. Finally, with a swat on the girl's back end, Byou sent her daughter out. Shaku rushed out of the family's wagon, drum sticks firmly in hand now, and ran as fast as she could to join up with the rest of the drummers.

She arrived with not much time to spare. She was still panting, trying to catch her breath, when the firework was sent up. Sandy taupe eyes lingered on the yellow sparks as they fell. It was time! She gripped her sticks, took a deep breath.

The large drum set the pace, beating out what would seem to be an unimpressive rhythym. After a couple of bars though, the rest of the ensemble kicked in, sticks striking at the hide covered drums before them. What had started out as unimpressive now became driving, upbeat, and intricate, as the percussive strikes joined in with the musicians who were accompanying the ensemble for this first act, the Dance of the Elements.

The normally jovial facial expression Shaku wore was replaced with one that was intent on keeping the beat, of staying in time, and was serious overall. She was biting at a corner of her lip, as her arms struck out the pattern...

[gijoespouse]

Auina wasn't given a reply as to whether her repair job had been lacking, as Li was engaged with Bai. With a sigh, she resigned herself to checking it out after the first act. If further mending was required, there wouldn't be time to deal with it until after the Dance of the Elements anyway. The act would be starting at any point now...

She couldn't help but supress a bit of a chuckle as Bai felt the need to go over every detail of the performances. It wasn't anything she was new to, that much was certain. She'd been around the twins all her life. Still, to see the normally pretty lax Bai insisting on going over every minute bit of the performance line up was somewhat amusing, even after all this time.

Auina was being nudged forward just as the first bit of pyrotechnics was being lobbed into the air. It was time...and she needed to get to the stage and quickly. Casting a smile back at the twins, she took off to the stage, her pace quickening as the taiko drummers began to set the beat. She arrived with just a few bars to go for her intro...enough to barely gather herself. Her cue was struck in musical chords, and no one would be able to tell she had just barely made it on time, as she appeared cool and composed as she made her entrance on the stage.

Lean muscles worked as the acrobat entered with a series of back hand springs. She made it through three, and as her feet made contact with the ground after the third, the ground rose up in a great swell beneath her. The ground swell sent the earthbender rocketing upward, where it leveled flat once again as she flipped and twisted about in the air. The mahogany haired bender landed in a crouch, bringing her hands down together before her. Using bending once more, she sent the energy from her impact out in a ripple all about her. Offstage earthbenders, who would be used to help Auina control the 'air bender' in this performance, made sure that the ripples stayed within the confines of the stage. The minute the ground returned to calm, the earthbender was rising to her full height. She extended her arms straight above her...then, brought them quickly downward as she dropped into a horse stance. With the motion of her arms, the stone beads about her wrists snapped from their strings. In a swift motion, she was rising again, bringing a foot up as she made a spin. Her arms were straight out to her sides as she spun and the beads orbited about her, spinning in the same clockwise direction as her body.

The acrobat continued to make the beads orbit about her as she made sweeping motions with her arms. Continually, she was shifting, spinning and dropping in and out of the various strong ground rooted stances that earthbending was so comprised with. Each step, each shift of stance, carried her about the stage, until she was front and center, barely within the limits of the performance area. An offstage earthbender took control of her stone beads, as she pivoted on her feet. The bender formed the beads into a ring of stone, through which Auina took a run towards. At the last moment, she leapt forward, diving through the ring, and rolled upon her landing at the back right edge of the performance area. The offstage bender brought the beads back in a conspicious manner, as Auina came up on her feet into a low horse stance. She would hold the stance as the next performer began, remaining there until it came time for the Akiyama boy to 'air bend.'

[revanluv]

Shizuka stretched her arms above her head, glad to be away from the hustle and bustle of the performing caravan, even if it was only momentary. She'd spent most of the day running around the caravan helping mend costumes and setting up performance areas and was glad for the break. Shizuka was wound as tight as a spring, and even though she wasn't performing tonight she was still an overactive bundle of nervous energy.

The sudden sound of the drums starting up startled the contortionist into movement. She shifted with the excited crowd, eager to see the beginning of the dance of elements. She'd never actually seen the first act in the dance, usually off stretching and preparing for her own performance. But tonight she had every intention of watching Auina perform.

She quickly found herself caught up in the performance, 'oohing' and 'ahhhing' along with the crowd. She cheered just as loudly as the rowdy pair of drunks in front of her, showing her support as the Earth bender took her final stance. The music for the next element began, and Shizuka regretfully disentangled herself from the teeming crowds. She quickly made her way back to the caravan making sure to keep well away from anyone who might rope her into cooking something. She would do anything else, but her culinary skills were deadly.

Literally.

Unless Bai and Li wanted the patrons to die from food poisoning she would have to stay well away from the edibles. Perhaps there were still some costumes that needed last minute tailoring.

[pamuy]

Avoiding everyone up until now to avoid distraction, Pamuy was to join in the current act, representing the element of water. She removed her cloak and headed toward the stage, ready to make her grand entrance as Auina ended hers. Others urged her to go ahead, but she had to stop for a second to raise a small orb of water from one of the large jars offstage, and convert it to a small, compact ball of vapor in her hand before entering the stage.

Then came her turn...

Effects provided by waterbenders offstage, a low cloud of mist poured onto the field moments before Pamuy appeared. As the taiko drums set the beat and flutes played, she twirled onto the stage while two streamers of mist curled and twisted around her body in the opposite direction. She came to a stop with one hand above her head, palm to the sky, while the mist that once floated about her joined with that on the stage.

Then, with smooth and gentle motions, reminiscent of her element, she moved one hand out in front of her and the other behind her, though at a lower level. In a fluid motion, she swept both arms in an arc around her, gathering most all the mist around the waterbender. Both hands rose as high as they could, the water vapor rapidly rose around her in a serpentine coil, condensing into water as it reached her shoulders. Finally it reached her hands, where it settled into an orb a little smaller than the mocha-skinned woman's head.

Making motions as though she were flailing a whip through the air, a flat, ribbon-like stream of water followed her motions, lengthening with each thrust and gleaming with the lanterns that lined the stage. Movements in wavy loops and figure-eight motions accompanied her gamboling around the stage, at times taking a moment to whip high over the audience.

The watery ribbon then left her control after this, moved by another waterbender out of the audience's view. She twirled and leaped away from the audience as the stream danced around her, and when she came to a stop, the ribbon was bended by an unseen forced high into the air and arching all the way back behind one of the wagons.

Pamuy stood with her feet at shoulder-width, one outward-faced, spread palm held near her head, while the other stayed by her waist. She would stay like this, awaiting the next element...