Twelve Twelvemonths Later

The war began and with it, Chuo soon found his entire life changed. He may have proven his place in the host, but now he wondered if he even wanted to be there. In the sixth twelvemonth of the war, with Buri Khan taking Wuti Khan's sister as a concubine and Wuti Khan marrying Buri Khan's sister Princess Xihai, as well as Wuti Khan sending Buri Khan a gift of two thousand horses. With those six twelvemonths of war, Chuo thought this would mean he would finally get to go home. He had seen enough bloodshed and death to last him tens of thousands of life times, but alas, what was and what he would have liked it to be, were as different from a kind word was from the lash of a whip.

For many months, Chuo and the cavalry he was assigned to were stationed in an outpost on the border. Then came the news that the war had been reinitiated. Wuti Khan had violated the peace and attacked the border. Once more there was war between the Tuoba Wei Khanate and the Rouran Khaganate. The campaign was soon temporarily cancelled due to a lack of Tuoba Wei provisions, but still Chuo and the others were not allowed to return home. Remaining at the border, they fought with Rouran raiders and for a brief time fought alongside them, but when finally, twelve twelvemonths had passed since Chuo had left home, it was found that the long conflict against the Rouran raiders was almost over. They had advanced on the Black Mountain and then extended northward to the Yanran Mountain, but alas, as much as the host of the Tuoba Wei Khanate knew victory, they sometimes knew defeat as well.

So it was, that Xin Ping died in such a defeat. Succeeding him was Mulan Badaling and recognizing Chuo as a kindred spirit, a brother, who had come to prove himself, she named him her second-in-command. With a heavy heart and a desire to just go home, Chuo accepted the position hoping and praying that his time as second-in-command to the commander of the host would be brief and that he would see his family very soon… that he would see Alun very soon.