I Feel Like My Heart Has Stopped Beating

Rose looked up at the large hill, and stared at the magnificent oak tree at the top of the hill. She looked over at Makivis, and asked "Are there many horses that live here?" It seemed that this was the safest place. It reminded her of her forest, how the light was always so golden and bright, giving everything such a perfect clarity. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts before she became homesick. This was her home now, and she was grateful she had even been taken in before the Lydes had gotten her instead.

"Mainly just the Royalty, and high ranking soldiers. And this is the home of all Alphas."Ezazel started. Then at the top of the hill, under the tree stood Mirage. Looking over the bluff, you could see everything. She laughed a bit at the foals play fighting.
"And this is Mirage." Ezazel looked at her. Ducked his head a bit. Mirage started working her way to them.
"Ezazel. Who is this?" She said, then realizing that she should probably say hello.
"Rose." Then Ezazel looked over into the forest, where the alphas meet. Mirage understood.
"Nice to have a girl on the team! I'm Mirage." Mirage looked back to Ezazel, then to Rose.

*there is a general idea that there are a small number of NPC horses (if you will) around Myst. The ones that the writer's play are just the ones that actually do anything.

Royalty? Alphas? Rose cocked her head. She didn't feel as if she belonged here, all the horses here seemed to be of importance, and she was..just...Rose. Rose smiled to herself as she caught Ezazels reaction when Mirage came down.
Rose felt welcome with Mirage. "Hiya, I'm Rose", she said shyly. She wondered how she and Mirage would get along. Mirage seemed bubbly and bright, which seemed to be what everyone needed around the Lydes.

"Well. How much did he fill you in? He can be a bit dramatic at times." Mirage shook her head a bit. The place was a lot to take in. "Seriously. Don't take anything as serious as he makes it sound. Lydes are just whinny little bitches the stallions like to brag about killing." She finished.
"Whinny little bitches? I don't think so..." Ezazel interrupted her. "Have you ever seen one?" The answer was yes, but Mirage tried to forget about it.
"Yes. And you kicked it's ass remember?" Mirage tried to change the topic.
"So. Meet anyone cute?" She asked looking over at Rose.

Rose laughed "I think it was enough, but my brain was a little overloaded at the time." She admitted. She gave a soft laugh as Mirage mocked the Lydes. She started to feel as if she belonged more. She started at the abrupt change of subject. Anyone cute? she thought. She began to blush deeply. "Well..I mean..I'm not quite sure...I guess..." she stammered, nervously glancing over at Ezazel as she stuttered. She felt awkward talking this with him here, he was one of the top horses.

[By the way should I say Lestat? I don't want to post anything about him without your okay first (:]

*dude. if Rose likes lestat go for it! He needs a lover anyway...

Ezazel looked around. Then raised his head, "I need to go."
"Alright. See you later I guess." Mirage replied. Ezazel leaned over and kissed her slightly.
"Well. Let's walk. I'll show you around." Mirage said, first watching Ezazel then looking back at Rose.
"So. You seriously haven't seen anybody cute?" Mirage now looked around a bit. The herds were full of mares, and almost all stallions were, taken.

Rose watched as Ezazel walked away, and turned her attention back as Mirage asked her again. She thought about it. Lestat seems nice... she thought, absentminded. "I mean..I guess..Lestat, and...you know..he's nice..but I don't...know..." she managed to splutter out. She hoped Mirage didn't think she was weird, afterall, she had never really had any experience with stallions.

[Oh okay awesome! I guess they can be kinda temporary now, until things get more serious or something XD]

"Lestat!" Mirage said almost too loudly. "Oh you too would look adorable together! You too could be like all team alpha and stuff." Instantly she hoped Ezazel had told her about it, and that the look over to the woods wasn't just a habit. "If I remember correctly. I don't think he's got a girl yet. He's still working on the death of his younger brother. It hit him hard. Probably the reason he is so anti-lyde today." Mirage started walking down the hill. Away from the oak, into the lower fields. "Mostly. This is where the herd in region three live. A few hang out with us, and most of the alphas live closer to the forest." Then, a little foal ran up to meet them. As soon as the mother saw, she came running. Upon sight of Mirage she lowered her head. Then raised it again.
"I'm sorry. He can be a bit eager to meet people at times." The mare said, looking at Mirage then at Rose.
"We should go. Come on." The mare pushed the colt away. Then started walking back to the herd.

Blushing, Rose stumbled along as Mirage talked. Would they look cute together? She laughed a little to herself in her mind, it was really fun to talk about this stuff. Abruptly, the laughter in her mind stopped as Mirage told her about his brother. She felt a twinge of sadness. It seemed that horses died often from the Lydes, and that only made her want to defeat them more. She followed Mirage down to the lower fields, and laughed as a little foal stumbled up to them. She watched as a mare came up, and bowed her head to Mirage. Curiously, Rose tried to remember what Region Three was for. "Mainly the Royalty..Alphas", the words echoed in her head. She suddenly realized what an honor it was to be in this group. "Mirage?", Rose asked. "How often do new horses get accepted into the Alpha Team so quickly?"

"Don't get me wrong. The lyde control has gotten much better. Lestat moved here with his two brothers right after Ezazel claimed this territory. Zephyres I think they called their breed. Kind of took us both a second to process that other horses had tails like his. I won't forget the look on his face when he saw that. Priceless. His younger brother was much smaller. Thought he ruled the world. The three were a team for sure. Lestat wasn't as cold to new comers then as he is now. You must have said something, cause I haven't seen him that friendly in a while." Mirage kept talking, then she realized that she missed the point.
"Oh. To your question. Getting accepted that quick is rather rare, but it depends on what you can do. The original team consisted of 5. Ezazel, Zach, Lestat, Roseta, and Baticus. Bat as we all called him. He was a great fighter. Between him and Ezazel they racked up a heck of a body count. They also brought back a live one. We locked him up good. Studied it. That's how we know so much about them today." Mirage ended the thought then. She didn't like to think of his death. But then she thought, and after a little pause, she continued.
"Poor boy. He died defending his family. He ruled region two for a good while. It was the middle of the day. He turned around at the sound of a scream, and saw his wife and kid getting ripped apart by lydes. He didn't think, charged them. He took out 7 before one finally got him from the back. Ezazel thinks that was because of the rage. You can't imagine to look around and see the ones you love dieing in front of you." Mirage shook her head. His death, his legacy, was always a touchy subject. He was Ezazel's best friend. Makivis was always more like a brother to him.

Rose nodded as Mirage talked. She hadn't heard of Zephyres before either, but they seemed a majestic breed. "He has another brother that's still alive?" she questioned.
Hearing Bat's story, Rose bowed her head. She couldn't imagine what it must be like, loosing a loved one to a Lyde, or loosing a loved one at all. "Well...I hope...I can help avenge the death of all the horses due to the Lydes." She said softly.

[Sorry for the late response, was away for a while XD]

Mirage grinned, then started walking towards the lake, that only a very few even knew about. At sunset it was beautiful, and the sun was drawing down, so it should be perfect.
"I'm the only thing keeping them from charging in their, half cocked, and getting themselves killed." Mirage laughed at herself. She let Ezazel and Makivis think they knew everything, but she influenced their decisions a lot of the time


(it's alright! I was a little busy anyway)

Laughing, Rose nodded happily as she followed Mirage. The sun was starting to set, the the golden glow illuminated the trees. Rose felt happy, a cloudy, dreamy kind of happy. I guess this is what it feels like to finally find the place you call home she thought to herself.
"Do you know when all of the Alpha Team is going to meet next?", she said, wondering when she was going to meet everybody.

Rose watched carefully as Mirage seemed to lose herself in her thoughts. Glancing forward, she blinked rapidly as the sun began to blind her when they stepped out of the trees. She froze for a second, and shook her head. They had just stepped onto a whole different scene than the dreary forest before. The sun illuminated everything, throwing golden shadows across the area. She sighed, and closed her eyes. She could feel Mirage doing something similar, both of them relaxing.

A soft, hooting cry made her snap out of it. Then she looked up and saw a beautiful white owl sitting perched high up in the tree. It's feathers looked orange against the sky. She now focused on the sky itself. The vibrant strokes of red, the lighter pink, almost purple accents. Then the wash of the orange backdrop. That was a benefit to being way out here. The surroundings, the skies, the woods, they were spectacular if you could actually enjoy it, and not be paranoid. Then she felt her eyes lids droop, and lowered herself to the ground. She rested on her feet, her back legs stuck out to the right, folded close to her chest. She lowered her head, but she could not sleep. She wanted to make sure Rose was comfortable before she slept.

Rose looked around, seeing a white owl, which probably signified that night was going to come in an hour or two. Sighed. She really didn't like night, right now was probably her favourite time of day. She loved the colours the sky beheld, and drank in the view. She wondered if a Lyde could find it's way here. The high stone wall looked a formidable fortress against them, but there might be other ways. She shook her head. Stop being so paranoid! she scolded herself. Looking over at Mirage, she tried to mimic the peacefulness the other mare radiated. Night was when the Lydes came out to "play", and night was drawing near.