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| | ====Lieutenant Hong Yu, the Crimson Lance (Level 2 General)==== | | ====Lieutenant Hong Yu, the Crimson Lance (Level 2 General)==== |
| − | The leader of the Five Lances, Niu Pa's self-proclaimed bodyguards. A hot-blooded idealist, Hong Yu is a strong believer in honor and loyalty. | + | The leader of the Five Lances, Niu Pa's self-proclaimed bodyguards. A hot-blooded idealist, Chi Qiang is a strong believer in honor and loyalty. |
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| | ====Lieutenant Lan Yu, the Azure Lance (Level 2 General)==== | | ====Lieutenant Lan Yu, the Azure Lance (Level 2 General)==== |
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| | '''Siblings:''' | | '''Siblings:''' |
| − | *Niu Min, Biggest Sister, Age 16 | + | *Niu Zhangnǚ, Biggest Sister, Age 16 |
| | ** A tomboy who wishes she were born a man. Competitive with her big brother but has a girly interior. | | ** A tomboy who wishes she were born a man. Competitive with her big brother but has a girly interior. |
| − | *Niu Jia, Bigger Sister #2, Age 13 | + | *Niu Cinǚ, Bigger Sister #2, Age 13 |
| | ** Responsible and reserved, she secretly has a crush on her big brother. | | ** Responsible and reserved, she secretly has a crush on her big brother. |
| − | *Niu Xin, Big Sister #3, Age 11 | + | *Niu Sannǚ, Big Sister #3, Age 11 |
| − | ** A delinquent daughter who crushes on Jia and dotes on her little sisters. Resents Niu (mildly) for "abandoning them". | + | ** A delinquent daughter who nevertheless dotes on her little sisters. Jealous of Niu for "abandoning them". |
| − | *Niu Lan, Twin Sister 1, Age 8 | + | *Niu Yufan, Twin Sister 1, Age 8 |
| | ** Ridiculously adorable and playful, pranks people by disguising herself as her sister. | | ** Ridiculously adorable and playful, pranks people by disguising herself as her sister. |
| − | *Niu Fan, Twin Sister 2, Age 8 | + | *Niu Yulan, Twin Sister 2, Age 8 |
| | ** Ridiculously adorable and playful, pranks people by disguising herself as her sister. | | ** Ridiculously adorable and playful, pranks people by disguising herself as her sister. |
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| | "That's a cute name," she giggles. "Well then, Rouyuan. Next time, you'll have to pay proper attention!" | | "That's a cute name," she giggles. "Well then, Rouyuan. Next time, you'll have to pay proper attention!" |
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| − | "Yes, ma'am!" he replies. | + | "Yes, ma'am!" he replies. |
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| − | ===Homecoming===
| + | -- |
| − | The small village of Buluo is nestled in the mountains, amidst large fields walled off from the rest of the world by the ridges around them. Said fields have just been harvested, but the festival the villagers are hosting is not simply to celebrate bringing in the crops, but also to hail the return of sons once thought lost, but come back to rejoin their families. Indeed, the entire detail (with the exception of Lieutenant Qima and Gong Shan) he brought with him to his home is composed of the surviving veterans who were conscripted from the village to aid in the war effort; it is a testament to Niu's care and concern for his men that he managed to return with all but five of the two dozen men he left Buluo with.
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| − | Gong Shan has followed his father to the countryside on occasion and is somewhat used to their rustic ways, but Qima's still somewhat stiff among the smiling, happy villagers. He's not used to the owner of the house personally coming out to welcome him and offer him local snacks, though a keen sense for politeness compels him to swiftly consume it and keep it down, regardless of how exotic it seems to him. But Qima and Gong Shan are left behind in the center of the village, while the Ox General returns home at last.
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| − | "Big Brother!" Niu Jia breathes, touching her suddenly pink cheeks. "You came back..."
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| − | "Almost didn't recognize him," Niu Min grins, trying to reach up to his shoulder and not quite succeeding; he must have put on a growth spurt during the war because now he's much taller than she remembers, and when he walks face first into a doorframe that used to be a good foot over his head, the house trembles and threatens to collapse.
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| − | "Took him long enough," Niu Xin mutters. "Must have been fun killing and fighting and-" | + | After what seems like forever but is only about half an hour, Rouyuan and Ziyan are descending the hill when Ziyan calls out, "Oh my! Butterfly, what are you and Blacky... oh, ''my''." |
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| − | "Now, A-Xin, is that any way to talk to your brother?" Niu Nu chides as she smiles up to her big son. Instinctively, Niu drops to one knee, so his mother can reach her arms around his neck. His little sisters take the chance to climb up Niu's coat of plates and fasten themselves to his pauldrons.
| + | Niu looks down and sees that his horse is... well, he's doing his part to increase the equine population of China - and in a most vigorous fashion, too. |
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| − | "Big bro, big bro, which of us is A-Fan?" the twins giggle. Of course Niu has no clue, given that he hasn't seen them in years, when they were still hanging on to Big Sister Xin's hands. Carefully, he reaches his hands up to lightly pat their heads with hands that are easily the size of their torsoes. | + | "Heavens, Blacky," Niu mutters, and continues climbing down. The ebon stallion finishes just as they reach the ground, and Niu knuckles his head in reproach. |
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| − | "It doesn't matter, I'll dote on you both just the same," he smiles. | + | "Come on, Blacky, why're you embarrassing me in front of her..." he hisses. |
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| − | "Awwww, that's not fair, you didn't answer us!" they reply in unison. Still, it seems to satisfy them, and they drop off his shoulder and run out the door. No doubt they'll be telling the stories of their gigantic brother to all the other kids in no time. Before that, however, they find the man Niu most wants to see; his father, Niu Lang,
| + | Blacky merely neighs in contentment, then baps Niu on the head and flicks his head toward Ziyan, as though to say, "go on, you're next". |
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| − | "A-Pa, my boy! Heavens, you've grown! Guess it makes sense though, you go out into the big open world, and you expand to fill it. And I saw one of your boys by the big fire just now; he was telling us that he was your assistant. Imagine that, a farmboy with a nobby young man as a squire! Come, tell us all about it... no, better yet - the headman's going to have a big feast. We can have storytime there!" | + | "Absolutely not, you randy animal, Ziyan's a pure and-" |
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| − | --
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| − | Much like everything in Niu's life, when he feasts, he feasts - it's as though he's determined to make up for three years of missed dinners here - and when he's invited to tell his tales, he gives it his all. His fellow soldiers, all village natives at well, chip in to corroborate his accounts too; from his impressing and intimidation of the nasty sergeants at boot camp, to his staunch, unyielding strength and stamina that promoted him to an officer, Niu's glory is spread not by the man himself, but by the ones he carried along with him. Of course, it falls to him to narrate the great battles that established him as one of the San Jie; the taking of Huan Ford, the siege of Ping Yuan, the treacherous attack before and the great victory of Ping Yuan. The tale seems almost too unreal to believe, but the Ox General stands before them, and every man who came back with him swears upon their family altars that Niu Rouyuan speaks the truth.
| + | "Ah... Colonel? Could I borrow a cloth of some kind? Butterfly's a little... well, wet." |
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| − | Loud cheering echoes up from the villagers, and soon the festivities begin in earnest, with dancing, singing, and the like. It's also the time for young lovers to separate from the pack and confess their affection to each other - and Ni finds a familiar face pulling him away...
| + | Blacky's whinnying sounds almost like laughter as Niu goes for the blanket from the saddlebags. |
