affame_le_geant_the_long_night_is_over fyn gula a wind out of the frigid north blew across cayris. the crooked, white fingers of an angry jack frost ruffled the grey and black wolf fur on his face. shivering, he stood, arms folded, at the charred remains of the bonfire that had burned down to coals and barely flaming embers. the chaos of twinkletoes's swansong had settled and the post-fray activities seemed to have only a weak assemblance of original order, compounded by the pressing issue of recovering the team of ostriches and the wooden cart which had abruptly disappeared during the blazing uproar of the paper-man's bellicose fit. cayris had dispatched a search party with torches, checked on poj and keggi's first degree burns suffered when they tried to stop twinkletoes, and now, as he kicked at the carbonized corpse of ignet blackfire, the unfortunate victim of the paper-man's vengenance, he realized his first concern, even before he formulated a re-evaluated plan in lieu of the mandrill's provisional assistance, was to re-establish and regain a sense of unity amongst his followers. it was not only his foundation that was shaken. many of his comrades were stunned by the final words of twinkletoes and the subsequent tragedy. they walked about in a confused daze that they found difficult to displace. cayris watched them in their malaise and knew exactly what they were feeling. yet, this is what he was famous for, why his followers left their jobs and families to join the cause of this revolution of the self. he gazed intently at the teeth of the mandrill, the only part of her burned body that could be recognized and gathered his thoughts. moments later, he turned and was relieved to see the search party returning with the cart and the ostrich team. "THE INSUFFERABLE HUNGER OF THE DAMNED!" cyris yelled, in an effort to rouse them to motivated order. "THE LONG NIGHT IS OVER!" cheers and shouts rose in a swell that even surprised cayris. bongo playing resumed, chants of revolutionary support began again and cayris smiled. he knew what he had to do and he would do it. 030306 what's it to you? who go blather from