Jacen awoke the next morning both excited and wary. Already his mind whirled, trying to anticipate his sister's next move. Even though they were twins, they didn't share everything. He sighed. He could only be on his guard and hope that was enough. Somehow, though, he doubted it.
Breakfast that morning was a fairly normal affair. Jaina sat across from him, yawning occasionally. Jacen smirked at her.
"Sleep well?" He asked solicitously, determined to keep a straight face. But when she glared at him, his control failed.
"You would know, wouldn't you?" She pinned him down with a look that was, at least to Jacen, very reminiscent to the way his mother looked at him when she was deciding on an appropriate punishment for him. He couldn't help it, he squirmed in his seat. Of course, Jaina noticed it. A grin began to spread across her face. She turned her attention to her food, apparently deciding to ignore him. Next to her, Tenel Ka frowned as she studied them both.
"And what, may I ask, happened last night?" Jacen perked up. He seldom had the opportunity to satisfy her curiosity.
"You know how she always complains about how hot it gets at night, so I figured the ice would help her sleep." There was no mistaking the self-satisfied grin he wore.
Tenel Ka nodded. Jaina snorted. Still ignoring her brother, she turned her attention to the warrior girl.
"What he failed to mention was that the ice was thoughtfully shaped into little balls, so that no matter how I positioned myself, the freezing things found me."
"Ah, I understand now." As they ate, Tenel Ka changed the subject. "I believe your honoring of the Shintaree tradition has spread somewhat." That caught their attention. She gestured to the tables around them. "They are quite amusing tricks really, and what they lack for in creativity is more than compensated by sheer quantity. On my way here this morning I witnessed several incidents that involved a strategically placed open container of liquid in a structurally unstable position over the intended victim." Jacen was still trying to work through that when his sister nodded sagely.
"The old bucket-of-water-over-the-door trick, eh? Works every time."
"Apparently. In addition, there were a number of other minor incidents, usually involving food or some sort of levitation." Jacen dismissed her comment with a wave of his hand and a smug grin.
"Amateurs."
* * *
Later that morning, the four were just finishing a series of physically exhausting exercises. They sighed in relief when Kirana-Ti finally dismissed them. Jaina got wholehearted agreement when she suggested a swim in the river. Soon, they were standing on the banks of the river where it broadened out into a small, slow moving lake just upstream of the temple. With a whoop, Jacen and Lowie jumped in and began splashing each other. Soon Jaina and Tenel Ka joined them, and all four swam around.
Jacen was on his third lap across the pond when the sleeve to his jumpsuit came off and floated away. He stopped, puzzled. He couldn't remember it being that loose, it was a brand-new jumpsuit. While he was puzzling over that, his collar also separated and floated away. He grabbed it and looked for a rip. Nothing. It seemed to have simply separated at the seam. He would have dismissed it out of hand if he hadn't happened to glance over in Jaina's direction and see her watching him. There was a glint in her eye that sent nervous shivers through him. She swam slowly over to him. Just as she reached him, the right leg of his clothing came off. He was more than a little worried, now.
"I'd get out of the water if I were you, Jasa," she told him. "The chemical I treated your clothes with is water-activated. It'll eat through the cloth fairly quickly."
Horror spread across his face, then he struck for the shore swimming faster than he ever had before. He was halfway there when the other sleeve fell off, followed in short order by the remaining pant leg. Even as he crawled out, he could feel the shoulder seam of the garmet splitting apart. With a horrified cry, he gave up all semblance of dignity and ran for the cover of the forest towards the temple, hoping that his outfit would hold together until he was out of sight of the others, especially Tenel Ka. He could feel the blush creeping up his cheeks and knew his face was beet-red.
The stoic warrior girl watched him go, curious. As Jaina swam lazily in, Tenel Ka approached her.
"What did you do to his garmet?"
Jaina was wringing the water out of her hair. "Oh, I just put a mild acidic compound on the seams. Since it was water-activated, as soon as he got wet, it began to dissolve the cloth." She laughed cheerfully. "Don't worry, it's too mild to burn his skin." Tenel Ka allowed a small smile to appear. "Besides, it could have been worse."
"How so?"
"Well, I could have coated the entire outfit, instead of just the seams."
* * *
Jacen was feeding his assorted fauna that night when there was a knock on his door. He made sure he had closed the cages securely before answering it. The door swung open to reveal Jaina. He backed away warily.
"What do you want now?" He glanced around his room, checking every item for signs of tampering. Jaina sighed, then crossed the room and sat down on the bed, waiting patiently.
"Relax, I'm not here to play any tricks on you."
He crossed him arms. "Right. Forgive me if I have trouble believing you." He tapped his head. "Let me think. I think it had something to do with disintegrating clothing."
"Oh, please. Don't you think you're overreacting? I mean, it's not like anything bad happened." All she received was a glare. "Besides, it was no worse than the necta-birds." As she hoped, he smiled.
"So what do you want?"
"It just occurred to me that we're wasting valuable time pulling pranks on each other when we could be working together."
"What?"
"Well, between your animal magnetism-" he groaned at the joke "- and my mechanical skills, we would be unstoppable." She grinned up at him. "So what do you say?"
"No more infighting? You and me teaming up?" Jacen asked excitedly. She nodded. He sat down beside her and slung his arm across her shoulder. "The world doesn't stand a chance. Where do we begin?"
"Have you noticed that all the doors to the rooms open into the rooms?" He scratched his head.
"Yeah, so?"
"And I found an entire reel of fibercord in the junk pile...."
* * *
Breakfast that morning was...interesting to say the least. The twins had spent the early morning hours watching the other students try to leave their rooms. They had waited the night before until everyone was asleep, then had cut several lengths of fibercord and tied the doorknob of one door with another directly across the hallway form it. When the morning bell rang, it was pure chaos as the hapless students tried to open their doors only to meet with resistance. Some had given up, and the ones with windows had scrambled out that way, but others were not so lucky. For about an hour, chaos had reigned.
Now, as they ate their meals, Jacen and Jaina could feel the glares directed at them. Jaina leaned over to whisper to her brother.
"We'd better be careful. I think a few of them are angry enough to take revenge." He nodded in agreement.
From his place with the other adults at the head table, Kyp watched the Solo children whispering and inwardly cringed. At least when they were playing tricks on each other it kept busy. But now, if they had teamed up as he suspected... He sighed and massaged his temples, feeling the beginnings of a grand headache.
The twins were still whispering when Tenel Ka and Lowie approached them. After an exchange of good mornings all around, the two sat and wasted no time.
"Lowie and I offer our services and cooperation in your endeavors." Jacen blinked in confusion. Tenel Ka smiled. "In other words, we want in." He grinned. Jaina suppressed a whoop of delight and settled for a quiet squeal. Grinning diabolically, she gestured for the others to gather around her and rubbed her hands together
"Lowie, I know the perfect thing. We're going to need everyone's help, though." In a hushed voice, she quickly outlined her plan...
* * *
Tionne was on her way to her room when shouts of surprise exploded from the classroom she was passing. She looked around the deserted hallway warily. With all the students in class, she could see nothing out of the ordinary. Curious, she poked her head through the doorway.
Inside, Kyp was frozen at the front of the room, his lecture interrupted. She followed his horrified gaze and saw, to her utter disbelief, the huge form of Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith. He strode between desks glowering at the terrified students fiercely.
"Darth Vader," Tionne breathed, although no introduction was necessary. "What is he doing here?" Her hand strayed to the mother-of-pearl lightsaber hanging at her side. Kyp shook his head, although his eyes never left the huge figure.
"He's our astronomy lesson." He didn't sound amused.
"He's what?" Before Tionne could get an answer, the Sith Lord stopped in front of a desk occupied by a very young Bothan female. He loomed over her like a wave about to come crashing down. Her eyes and mouth were three perfect circles of awe as she watched him raise his fists above his head--
--and execute a dainty pirouette in place while a frilly pink tutu blossomed around his waist. Prancing and mincing on tiptoe, he sang a well-known children's song declaring he was just a little trilla-bunny in the sunshine. The class rocked and howled with laughter.
"He was supposed to be a holo-projection of the core worlds," Kyp explained grimly.
"Um?" Tionne was incapable of speech.
"Tionne, this is serious. I can't cancel the image or override the program. The students have gone wild. This will stop and I will find whomever is responsible for it." His eyes were frantic, and Tionne thought she saw a muscle above the right one twitch spasmodically.
"Oh." She couldn't seem to tear her eyes off the twirling Sith Lord. "Um ... I'll get Jaina and Lowie here right away. They ought to be able to fix the, er, glitch." She dashed out of the room before she, too, exploded with laughter.
* * *
The door to Jacen's room had barely closed before the four collapsed onto the cool stone, convulsed in laughter. Lowie whuffed, and even Tenel Ka couldn't seem to stop chuckling. Jaina wiped tears from her eyes and gasped for breath. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her brother doing the same.
"I don't care how much trouble we get into, that was so worth it." Jacen held his aching side. "Did you see the look on Kyp, I mean Master Durron's face when Darth Vader appeared?"
"Indeed." Tenel Ka somehow spoke for them all. She suddenly sat up straight, her senses alert. She put a hand to her lip, quieting them. "Someone is coming." They had barely enough time to straighten their clothing and carefully school their expressions before there was a knock on the door. Tionne opened it enough to poke her head in.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Her eyes studied the four close friends.
"Er, not really. We were just observing my, er, pets to..." Jacen broke off, unsure of what to say. Luckily, his sister jumped in before the silence became too noticeable.
"To see and feel how the Force flows through them." She finished with a half-smile both children had inherited from their father. Lowie growled in agreement, and Tenel Ka nodded solemnly. Tionne wasn't sure she believed them, but since she would undoubtedly find no proof to link them to the crime, she settled on giving them a knowing smile.
"Commendable. I'm sure you wouldn't mind showing some of the less ambitious students that particular skill later, right?" She was inordinately pleased when their smiles became a little more nervous and they squirmed slightly. "But, I'm afraid that right now I need to borrow Jaina and Lowie. It seems there is a malfunction in the holoprojection system and since that is your specialty..." The two nodded, almost too enthusiastically. As she followed Tionne out the door, Jaina winked at the other two.
"Save us a seat at lunch," She admonished. "I don't want to miss anything." Jacen echoed her grin.
* * *
When Jaina and Lowie appeared at lunch, they looked properly chastened.
"How'd it go," Jacen asked cheerfully. His sister groaned and patted Lowie's shoulder consolingly.
"Well, after we got through resetting all the holoprojectors, with Master Durron standing over us impatiently, Tionne suggested that in order to prevent such glitches in the future, it would be a good idea if we performed regular maintenance on them." Lowie groaned. "So now, we have to spend three hours once a week checking every single projector." Jacen patted her consolingly.
"But it was worth it, right?" She glared at him.
"Says the person who won't have to perform the maintenance." He smiled ruefully. Jaina changed the subject. "Has it started yet?" He shook his head.
"They haven't started serving yet. Oops, here they come now." Several droids ambled out of the kitchen area, carrying in their hands trays of food. Jacen nudged Lowie. "Are you sure that program will work?" he whispered. The lanky wookie growled in reassurance and pointed to the head table, which was served first.
Kyp was deep in conversation with Tionne as the droids approached. All of a sudden, all of the droids began to whoop and screech in tandem. The noise was, to say the least, deafening. Kyp was grateful that he was not the only one to jump out of his chair in surprise. Most of the other adults did, too. They stared in confusion until, after a minute or so, the droids quieted and went on serving food as if nothing had happened. Shrugging, they sat down and began conversing quietly. After about thirty seconds, the commotion started all over again. It grew as the droids spread out and began serving the students. Not more than a minute would pass before the screeching and whooping would commence. Though the surprise wore off, the noise was still very distracting.
Watching all of the chaos, Jacen leaned over to his sister and whispered, "Exactly what did Lowie program into them?" Jaina and Lowie shared a diabolical smile before she answered back.
"Actually, all he did was alter their audio sensors to send the droids into alarm mode whenever they heard certain words."
"What words?" Tenel Ka was curious.
"Oh, just a few, like Force and Jedi."
The warrior girl nodded. "Indeed. Words that would be impossible to avoid saying at the J-" Jaina shook her head in warning, "-Academy."
"Yep, so until they figure out exactly what not to say, it'll be a little noisy around here." Jacen tapped her shoulder.
"Um, won't he just make you and Lowie fix the problem?" Jaina laughed.
"That's the beauty of being a master with electronics, like Lowie is. The program will erase itself in about a day, but there's nothing anyone can do before then, short of giving every droid a complete memory wipe."
"Which, considering the Academy possesses none of the facilities for, is impossible," Tenel Ka noted. Seeing the others were finished eating, she stood. "I suggest we leave now, before certain headmasters have time to wonder who the responsible party is, or in this case, are." Seeing the logic to her argument, the four quickly exited the dining hall.
* * *
The rest of the day was spent putting the case of mini, high-res, extremely portable holoprojectors in Jaina's room to use. Many a student was caught unawares when they tried to sit down on a holographic chair or desk. A good deal of students had bruised noses, and egos, when they tried to walk through a holographic doorway that had been superimposed over a stone wall. Personally, Jaina was disappointed that so many students, and even a few teachers, fell for the holoprojectors. She could feel the difference easily enough through the force. But the sheer amusement gained from a discreetly placed holoprojector was worth a little discomfort. The students seemed to agree, for even after they were caught unawares, they told no one and even tried to lure other unsuspecting students into the trick. The Academy halls echoed with bumps, startled exclamations, and peals of laughter.
Kyp Durron wandered through the halls, watching with a sort of morbid curiosity as the pranks spread. Little did he know that he was often the victim of another of Jaina's tricks. Sometimes, he wondered why the students stared at him as if he had a third eye as he passed them. Unfortunately, due to a holoshroud carefully concealed on his robe, he often did. Other times he looked like a rancor, and once Jacen changed him into a trilla-bunny. The other students were so amused and impressed at the possibilities that Jaina contemplated selling tickets to the use of the control panel.
* * *
That night she put her most ambitious plan yet into motion. It would require the assistance of the others, and she also recruited Raynar to help.
Raynar stood impatiently in the hallway outside the temple operations room. Because it was so vital, it was in the middle of the pyramid with no windows and only one set of double doors as an entrance. The halls were dark, as was the custom at night. By the dim light of the one partially lit glowpanel, he could catch glimpses of shadowy figures moving in and out of the room. Even though he knew the shadows belonged to Jaina the others, he was still jumpy. When a hand rested on his shoulder, he jumped with a small cry. Jaina silenced him with a stern look. His heart was still hammering loudly in his chest.
"You startled me!" He accused her.
"You're our lookout. You're not supposed to be startled." She replied. He had the grace to looked chastened. "Just thought I'd let you know that we're nearly done. It should only be another hour or so, okay?" He nodded. They both started when they heard footsteps approaching, echoing loudly down the stone corridor. Jaina shoved him forward. "We're not finished yet. You have to distract them!" With another shove, she disappeared back into the darkness.
Swallowing nervously, Raynar took a deep breath and raced to the corner of the hall, peering around the corner cautiously. His heart seemed to skip a beat. At the far end of the hall, Kyp Durron was approaching. Raynar fought down panic and schooled his expression. He nonchalantly walked toward the obviously preoccupied Jedi Master. Kyp smiled slightly as the garishly clothed student approached him.
"Raynar! What are you doing up at this time of night?" He studied the boy, noticing the flushed cheeks and his discomfort. He's probably more than a little intimidated by me, Kyp thought. Especially since he barely knows me. He grinned disarmingly. "I know today's been a little unusual. I couldn't sleep either." The human boy nodded anxiously.
"I, it's just..." The boy fumbled for words. "Actually, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and I have a few questions about the Force and, um, that stuff." His voice trailed off, and he blushed. He jumped slightly when Kyp slung his arm around Raynar's shoulder.
"Well, I'm not Master Skywalker, but I can try to help you out there." Raynar looked up gratefully, relief evident on his face.
"Thanks, Master Durron." He paused and looked up. "I'd like that. But do you think we could talk outside, maybe on the temple wall? It's a little claustrophobic in here." His gaze was so pleading that Kyp found it impossible to ignore.
"Now, what did you want to know," he asked sincerely as they strode off.
"Well, I'm a little confused about the whole light, dark side thing. I mean, what if you do something bad, but for a good reason? Or if you do something good for a bad reason? " Kyp suppressed a sigh as they walked. It was going to be a long night.
* * *
The next morning, Kyp staggered out of bed, sure that there were dark circles under his eyes. He had been up for three hours with Raynar, trying to explain the Force to him. Lack of sleep was not something he particularly minded, except that he hasn't slept very much over the last few days and was beginning to feel it. At least, he told himself, he only had another day and night before the dreaded Shintaree ended. Then, maybe, he could rest undisturbed by nightmares. It didn't help when he thought of a few of the pranks that he had pulled in earlier years.
Just as he was finishing dressing, there was a knock on his door. Running his hands through his hair, he opened it to see Tionne standing in the hallway. There was a peculiar look on her face. He smiled nervously. Before he could say anything, though, she spoke.
"There is a comm for you." She gestured in the general direction of the comm center. All the way there, she was silent, thoughtful. He was deliberating on whether or not to ask her about it when they reached the room. He walked through it and stopped dead in his tracks. As he stood there, staring, he was fully aware that his jaw was hanging open, but he couldn't seem to do anything about it. He tried to speak, but his vocal chords seemed as frozen as the rest of his body. He took a deep breath and tried again, this time with a little more success.
"Tell me I'm still asleep. I'm dreaming, I have to be." He absentmindedly reached up to massage his temple. He blinked his eyes a few times, then, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight in front of him, asked, "How?"
Tionne chuckled. She, too, had been somewhat surprised, but then she had had time to recover. Kyp seemed rooted to the spot, unable to move.
In front of them, centered in the operations room, was a T-23 Skyhopper. A part of Kyp's mind noted that it was the skyhopper that belonged to Lowie. The craft, while not as large as say, the Millenium Falcon, was still much too large to fit through the doorway. From behind him, Tionne chuckled again.
"I assume they had to disassemble it, bring all the parts in and then reassemble it. Quite a task." There was something akin to pride in her voice.
"No kidding." The numbness was wearing off, Kyp thought. An insistent beep penetrated the haze his mind was in.
"Oh, yes. There is an incoming transmission for you."
Kyp was surprised he managed to walk the half dozen paces it took to cross the room and seated himself at the console. Still somewhat dazed, he activated the comm. The static on the screen was replaced by the image of Luke Skywalker. In the background, he could see Han moving around the cockpit of the Millenium Falcon. Whatever greeting Luke had planned to say died as he took in the background behind Kyp.
"I wasn't aware we had a comm station in the hangar."
"We don't." It was Luke's turn to look confused.
"Isn't that Lowie's skyhopper behind you?"
"It is indeed."
Comprehension blossomed on his face. He reached back and caught Han by the shoulder, pulling him into view. The older man did a double-take as he peered over Luke's shoulder.
"Is that what I think it is?"
"Sure is." Luke answered for Kyp.
"Is that where I think it is?"
"Right again."
Han sat back in shock. "Well I'll be a nerf-herder. They must have had to disassemble it into, what, four separate pieces?" He thought a moment, then corrected himself. "Nope, five." He beamed with fatherly pride and slapped Luke on the back. "What'd I tell you? She's got the Solo genes after all. Tell me that isn't the work of a top-rate mechanic!"
Luke was watching Kyp and decided it would be in everyone's best interests if the communication ended as soon as possible. "Anyway, Kyp, I just called to tell you we'll be there in time for lunch tomorrow. See you then." With that, the screen reverted to static. Kyp let his head sink forward until it rested on the wall. He began tapping his forehead on it, all the while muttering something under his breath. When Tionne asked him to repeat it, he only stared at her.
* * *
Jaina could barely eat breakfast that morning without laughing. Next to her, Jacen seemed to have the same problem. Nor were they the only ones. It seemed that through the rumor mill, the news of their latest prank has spread and everyone knew about it. Some of the students had even "wandered by" the operations room in order to witness their handiwork firsthand.
None of them were surprised when Master Durron made an announcement that the errant skyhopper had better be in it's designated place in the hangar before evening meal. Jaina didn't expect to have any trouble with that, since over a dozen students had approached her offering their help. There was another surprise: Wurth Skidder was due to arrive at the Academy that day and would stay overnight before he left the following day.
"And since Shintaree traditionally doesn't end until the sun sets tomorrow, that means he's fair game," Jacen declared when the four met in his room to plan their strategy.
"I don't know, maybe we should leave him alone. He might not have a good enough sense of humor as Kyp." Jaina was a little wary of including the Jedi Knight in their plans. She barely knew him, and if she allowed herself to admit it, she had something of a crush on him. Besides that, they had no way of knowing how he would react to a prank, even if it was good-natured. Jacen patted her arm in assurance.
"Don't worry, sis. Just leave it all up to me."
"Why am I suddenly afraid?" Jaina asked Lowie half-jokingly. He growled in agreement. Jacen had the grace to look hurt. He turned dramatically to Tenel Ka.
"Her words doth pierce, so. Ah, to be betrayed by my own sister, my own flesh and blood." He added to his overly dramatic speech by clutching his heart and staggering around. "Oh, the agony." He looked up from his death-throes to see the other three bent down over a schematic of their plans, deep in concentration. "Hey! I'm dying over here! The least you could do is pay attention to me." Tenel Ka looked up in puzzlement.
"I apologize, Jacen. What were you saying?"
"Oh, nothing." He shot her an indecipherable look as he joined them around the schematic. "So what's the plan, sis?"
"Well, by the time we move Lowie's skyhopper and get ready for tonight, we won't have time to do anything else today."
Jacen grinned. "Actually, I did have a little something in mind..."
* * *
Kyp was walking down the corridor towards him room when he noticed Jacen Solo emerge from the doorway with a duffel bag under his arm. As he walked by Kyp, he shifted the bag and several things fell out with a clank. Kyp watched in horror as the boy calmly picked them up and put them back in.
"Hello, Master Durron." Jacen was just picking up the hydrospanner and microtool as Kyp walked by.
"Hello, Jacen." He gazed in horror at the duffel bag, wondering exactly what else was in it, and, more importantly, what Jacen had used those things for. Jacen finished and stood up.
"See you later," he called as he strode away. "Gotta go feed my pets." Kyp was too busy inspecting the doorway to acknowledge him.
* * *
Jaina glanced up as Jacen entered her room and put the duffel bag down. When Jacen had asked to borrow her tools, she had been curious, but he had left so quickly she hadn't had time to grill him.
"Thanks for letting me borrow your stuff, sis." He walked over to inspect a project she was working on.
"Sure, any time." She kept her nonchalant attitude up even though she was dying of curiosity. "So, um, what did you do to Kyp's quarters?" He used his sleeve to polish a metal component on her desk.
"Nothing."
"Nothing? But then why did you need all those tools if you weren't going to do anything with them?"
"Well, he doesn't know that I didn't do anything."
She grinned in understanding. "So now he'll spend all day looking for what you didn't do, but he won't find anything, which'll keep him wondering what he's missing."
"Exactly. There's nothing like good old-fashioned psychological torture."
One level up, Tionne walked past Kyp's doorway and stopped in shock. His room looked like ground zero of an explosion. All the cabinets and drawers were open, the mattress was lying on the floor. She could see two legs sticking out from under the bed frame.
"Are you all right?" She spoke to the legs. They jerked, there was a thump and muffled curse, and Kyp extricated himself from under the bed frame, rubbing his head. She was struck by how bloodshot his eyes were.
"Oh, I'm just fine." His eyes roamed across the room. Tionne gestured to the chaotic state of the room.
"And this?"
He blinked. "I'm looking for something." He reached along the wall with his hand. "I know it's here, somewhere."
"Perhaps I can help. What are you looking for?"
His gaze, when he looked at her, was haunted. "I don't really have a clue, but I'll know when I find it."
* * *
"Did you find it yet?" Jacen was also on the floor of his room, searching for something. Jaina stood in the doorway, watching him. "You know, if you ever bothered to organize your stuff, your life would be a lot easier." He snorted.
"You're lecturing me? Half the time I have to use the Force to find you under all that junk in your room. You call that organized?"
"Hey, I have a system. I know exactly where everything is in there. Which is more than I can say for you."
"Hah!" He sat up, holding out his hand triumphantly. "I knew it was here somewhere." His sister rolled her eyes.
That night, they waited outside Kyp's room, hoping their plan would work. All too soon he came it and commenced with his normal routine. Jacen nudged his sister.
"Are you sure it'll work?"
"Yes. Now be quiet."
Two sets of eager eyes watched Kyp's every move. They were riveted on him as he drank from the pitcher of water beside his bed. Soon after, he was sound asleep, snoring lightly.
Once they were sure he was asleep, they climbed through the window into his room. Jacen approached the Jedi cautiously until he was able to reach out and tap his shoulder. He grinned when there was no response.
"All set. Told you the kava-nectar would work."
"Great. How long will he be out?"
"At least eight hours. It's hard to tell."
"Here, help me, then."
* * *
The first thing that registered in Kyp's mind as he woke up was the cool breeze that flirted over him He mentally cursed himself for not closing the window the night before. But as his senses began to function, there were several other...odd sensations. Like, for example, why he could hear the low rushing water of the river when his room was clear on the other side of the Temple. He was tempted to fall asleep again when there was a loud splash next to his head and he felt cold water cascade over him. His eyes jerked open and were immediately assaulted by harsh, bright sunlight. As he brought his hand up to cover his face, his mattress swayed under him. He froze in shock. Calmly, gently, he reached out with his other hand and felt along to the edge of his mattress. His fingers were suddenly encompassed by something cool and very wet. Even before his eyes could make out his surroundings, he had a good guess where he was, even if he didn't know how he had gotten there. A small moan of dismay traveled out across the slow-moving, peaceful river.
At the top of the temple, Tionne gazed down at the river below her. Somehow, she wasn't surprised when, over the course of a few minutes, the majority of the students and faculty joined her. Small laughs and wide grins seemed to prevail as they took in the scenery below. She smiled in resignation. It was Shintaree, after all. And though she would deny it adamantly if accused, she was partly to blame for the celebration of the tradition. After all, she had left certain holocrons out for her students to read.
* * *
Jaina had just seated herself at their usual table that morning when Jacen arrived, looking inordinately self-satisfied. At her raised eyebrows, he explained.
"You're not the only one who can pull off tricks, you know." He sat down, jubilant. "Just wait."
"What did you do?"
"Well, you know how you had that extra capsule of fluorescent dye just lying around? You know, the pink stuff." He waited until she nodded in confusion. "Well, I figured that it was too good to go to waste, so I slipped it into the showerhead in the guest room where Wurth Skidder is staying." He poked her teasingly. "You may bow to me now, oh lowly sister." She inclined her head in the direction of another entrance.
"Before you congratulate yourself too much, Jasa, you might want to look over there." He turned to follow her gaze and saw Wurth Skidder string to the table and sit down. Other than the fact that his hair was slightly damp, he appeared completely normal. Jacen's face fell.
"That's impossible."
Jaina was also confused, but a knawing worry had begun to develop in the pit of her stomach.
"Are you sure you put it in the right room?"
He nodded. "The one in the northwest corner on the second level, right?"
Her stomach clenched. "But he's staying on the first level, Jasa." Her face paled and she swallowed. "The only other guest room in use right now is-" Comprehension blossomed on her brother's face like an atomic explosion. He, too paled. He opened his mouth, gasping like a fish out of water.
At the same time, there was a mighty bellow and roar that echoed throughout the entire temple, causing the students to look up nervously. The sound was coming ever closer. As one entity, the entire room turned their heads and watched, riveted as a very angry, very pink - make that fuschia - wookie barreled through the doorway, bellowing angrily. Lowie cringed and sank down into his seat until only his eyes were above the level of the table. Not that it took an understanding of the wookie language to understand the gist of the conversation. It could have been a room full of statues as Chewbacca made his way to front of the room and stopped, his eyes roving over the rows of beings.
Jacen and Jaina had gone from pale to waxen in the meantime. In unspoken agreement, they slithered out of their chairs and half-crouched, half-crawled to the nearest exit. Once there, they abandoned all semblance of dignity and ran out towards the jungle. Only once they were across they were across the wide river did they stop, gasping for breath. Leaning against a tree for support, Jacen studied they way they had come.
"Maybe-" he panted, "-maybe he doesn't know we did it." His sister snorted.
"He's a wookie, for Sith's sake! You know, extraordinary sense of smell, strength, capable of mindless rage!" She rounded on her brother. "And you, you dyed him pink!" She rested her head in her hands. "We are so much rancor-bait!"
Jacen smiled weakly. "Well, there is an up side to all this."
"Yeah, if we're lucky, we can hide until Dad and Uncle Luke come back and so what if we're grounded until we're thirty, at we'll have all our extremities intact."
"Well, that and that at least we'll be able to see Chewie coming from half a kilometer away."
* * *
"Commedy is the last refuge of the nonconformast mind."
GILBERT SELDES, The New Republic, Dec. 20, 1954
Well, that concludes this delightful little story. This actually started out as an e-mailed narrative with each of us writing a section and passing it along. But just as it the story, we decided to work together on the second section and what you read above is the result. As they requested, my fellow author will remain anonymous due to the fact that they are an avid Trekkie and wish to avoid spoiling their image.
I must admit, to my chagrin, that two of the pranks above were not completely original and were instead, lovingly emulated from their original sources. You guess which two. (Kudos to those who know the sources.)
If you noticed that some of the characters acted rather irrationally or some strange plot gaps, try to remember that this we intended that this be humorous first, then canonically accurate. If you still have problems reconciling this, I suggest you get over it. Whether or not this requires a weekly trip to an expensive therapist is your business.
Finally, on a broader note. I now have an entire week of spring break, which means that I only have to go to work. I expect to post some more of my other work soon. To all of you who have been encouraging and patient, I give you my most sincere appreciation. This is in a large part due to you. And I think I speak for the majority of the authors, artists and others when I say that feedback is like water in the desert: rare but life-sustaining.
As always, please forgive any spelling and/or grammatical dissonances. They were not intentional and were probably a product of my poor typing skills and a ten-year-old keyboard. (Can you say Microsoft Word 4.1? I knew you could!)
The rights to Star Wars and everything it entails are the sole property of George Lucas & Co. I gain nothing from this story save personal satisfaction. This is, however, copyright 2001 to me and may only be reproduced, digitally or otherwise, in it's entirety and with my permission. (E me and I'll probably say yes.)
rit. y dim.