Orlina tiptoed through the lair, looking around suspiciously.  Eclipse, Apollo, and Shimmerscale had just departed for their annual trip to the Night’s Festival in the Tangled Wood with anyone who wanted to go, which left Orlina and everyone else not interested in the party back in the clan’s lair.

More specifically, Diode had stayed behind this year, which Orlina knew could only mean one thing:

The beginning of this year’s prank war.

Diode was one of the most gregarious and energetic nocturnes Orlina had ever met.  She often left the lair for weeks at a time going adventuring, always meeting new people and bringing the wildest stories back to their cozy forest home.  She had just come back from another such trip right before the Night of the Nocturne, meaning that she had no interest in leaving again so soon.  Unfortunately for Orlina, that meant that Diode was celebrating the holiday around home, which meant she’d have to be on the lookout for mimics and other pranks for two entire weeks.

Orlina poked her head into her workshop, scenting the air suspiciously.  Past experience had taught her that she could still smell the bitter tang of mimic powder even when it was camouflaged by her stores, as long as she was anticipating it.  She was greeted by the normal pungent smells of her ingredients and stepped in more fully, confident that nothing in her lab had been disturbed while she was away.  After putting away the herbs she’d gathered that morning, she spent a few minutes taking stock of what she had, noting what she could try to find herself and what she’d have to ask someone else to go out and find for her.  She noticed that she was almost out of cerith shells and groaned internally.  That was an ingredient she’d have to source elsewhere, and likely for a fair bit of treasure to boot.  It would all be worth it though if it helped her finish her latest concoction.  With an irritated lash of her tail, she turned around and walked out of the workshop, idly wondering what she’d eat for lunch.

Snap!

Orlina leaped backwards and hissed, wings flaring up and out to make herself look bigger.  A brightly painted board depicting a roaring Flowering Pohip swung back and forth on strings in front of her, gently creaking in the breeze.  Orlina stood still for a few seconds, her heart pounding rapidly in her chest.  Her shock and confusion was interrupted by high-pitched giggles from a nearby tree.

Orlina glared upwards, her surprise quickly being replaced by anger.  “You!” she shouted at the shimmering purple and white shape in the branches.  “I’ll get you for this!  You’ll regret starting this prank war, Diode!”

“Oh, I think I’ll only regret it if you can catch me!”  Diode shouted back.  She easily dodged backwards as Orlina launched herself into the air and found herself led on a rousing chase through the trees.  Orlina knew that she had very little chance of actually catching her foe; Diode spent her days haring off around Sornieth, and while Orlina spent her fair share of time looking for ingredients in their corner of the Viridian Labyrinth, that didn’t exactly constitute strenuous exercise.  Before long, Orlina was left catching her breath among the trees, with Diode nowhere in sight.  Heaving a theatrical sigh, she turned around and headed back for the lair.

When she got back, she grabbed a snack and took it with her to her workshop.  She still had more work to do today, which apparently now included thinking of revenge pranks to pull on Diode.  Upon entering her workshop, Orlina stopped in surprise when she saw a neatly stacked pile of cerith shells on her work bench.  “How did these get here?” she muttered to herself, poking one of the shells with a suspicious claw.

A soft sound behind her made her whirl around, wings half-raised in anticipation of another prank.  She lowered them almost immediately when she saw who it actually was: another nocturne, though this one smaller and with bluer scales and darker wings than her sister.

“Hello, Abyss.  I didn’t expect to see you here.  I’m sorry if I startled you by moving so fast.”  Orlina spoke clearly and softly, hoping not to scare away the other dragon.  Abyss was far, far shyer than her sister, preferring to stay in the waters around the clan’s territory.  She had probably only come out this far onto land because half the clan was gone for a few weeks.

Abyss settled back on the floor, folding her wings back up from where they’d been raised in preparation for a hasty flight.  “For you,” she whispered, raising a claw and pointing at the stack of shells on the workshop bench.

“You got those for me?”  Surprise bloomed in Orlina’s chest for the second time that day, though this was a far more welcome occasion than the first.  “Thank you!  How did you–ah, did you see my list that I wrote?”

Abyss nodded.  “Diode…she, um…I saw her, earlier.”

Orlina struggled to follow Abyss’s thoughts for a moment, but it quickly became clear when she picked up the scent of remnants of paint from Abyss.  “Oh, you helped her with the prank?”  Abyss’s wings pressed defensively close to her body and Orlina rushed to continue, “Oh, no, I’m not mad about it.  We do this a lot; it’s a bit of a tradition between your sister and I, to prank each other when we’re both still here during the holiday.  It’s all in good fun.”

Abyss relaxed upon hearing Orlina’s words, though she still remained standing in the doorway for a bit.  Seeing the wooden Pohip still hanging outside her workshop behind Abyss gave Orlina an idea.  “Although…if you’re still feeling guilty for helping to prank me, why not help me design a prank to pull on your sister?”

Abyss rushed into the workshop upon hearing that, and Orlina gave her a toothy grin.  This year’s prank war was shaping up to be glorious.