Heavy Storms

Heavy Storms is the thirtieth episode of Tales of Dikuda. It is also the sixth episode of the third season.

Summary
A heavy storm approaches the city, leaving the guild to deal with it and save the people.

Episode in Detail


Bayroff observes Father Sheeki leaving a jewellery store, where he purchased a necklace with the money spent to the temple. He engages into a short conversation with the man, warning him once more to not use the money of others for himself. The uncomfortable and scared man pushes Bayroff aside and flees the scene.

Around evening time Ryahno pays a visit to the Quiet Corner Café and has a bit of small talk with the owner, an octopus, until RuYi (LingDang) shows up at the café as well. The girl seems anxious to bump into Ryahno, due to the curse Bayroff as put on her. And indeed, due to what the curse does, Bayroff is able to see through the girl's eyes and listen to what is going on, learning about who Ryahno is, as LingDang had previously called out for help from the woman. While Ryahno does notice something being off about the nervous girl, and she is suspicious she doesn't poke further and keeps their conversation at a small talk level, providing a few suggestions to girl's troubled thoughts regarding her future.

At night in the police station, Loco and Yuw are still working on their paper work. As Yuw wants to leave early she tries to come up with a plan to get away by pushing her work onto Loco. She is interrupted in doing so, when Rutbouc intervenes, taking over control of Yuw's hand, slapping her with it. Loco, worried about the giant's strange behaviour leaves the room.

While the woman is gone, Yuw and Rutbouc engage in a dispute, with Rutbouc blaming the woman to be lazy and trying to get her back to work. Yuw, upset with being pushed around like this, decides to just ignore the presence in her head and go home despite everything. It backfires as Rutbouc punishes the giant by keeping her awake all night.

Meanwhile during the guard shift, Uuzoo ends up in a conversation with Lozu Aimar, the quail. He clearly dislikes the snake, as she reminds him of the various lore stories of the island including snake like beings, that caused trouble, which in combination with the things happening here since Uuzoo showed up, result in him making a negative connection.

When Uuzoo asks him to explain a negative comment he makes, he tells her about the stories involving different snake creatures that terrorized the island and town and how they were all taken out by The Fire. These stories make Uuzoo uncomfortable, who previously thought people were treating her differently because she was the only jerriko of the island, not due to the legends of other snake beings.

Pabu Ran, upset about the quail and how it hurt Uuzoo, tries to cheer her up by making it seem that the bird is just trying to come up with reasons to not have to change and how he's scared of the new. During his comforting he also mentions the FungGao school girl which committed suicide, stating that despite newspapers saying it was stress, everyone knew she had been bullied and discriminated against. The man is upset with the situation as it goes against what Dikuda stands for, a city where everyone is accepted and respected, no matter who or what they are.

After her shift is over, Uuzoo leaves, only to bump into Ryahno, whom she hesitantly approaches and tells about the incident earlier in the night. Ryahno too feels uncomfortable about the situation, as it brings back memories of her own early days in the city, where she was discriminated against. After encouragement from her commander, Uuzoo explains her fears and how she worries that she too will be taken out by The Fire, as she seems to bring bad luck to the city, listing various occasions where she sees herself responsible for things that happened. She ends her explanation with question if that is why Ryahno rarely talks to her anymore.

Ryahno, seeing things a bit differently and Uuzoo not as a bringer of bad luck, explains that the old traditionalists will probably never get used to the snake, but the younger generation is already accepting and approving of her. She adds, that she will take care of Lozu, and offers Uuzoo a way to communicate with her; the username she uses in the online game Terio.

Uuzoo is confused, as she doesn't play the game, which she replies with. Ryahno, feeling partly rejected by the reply, takes her leave then, her words of departure cold and distant, which in turn leaves the snake hurt as well. She heads to her home then, calling Krrah as she is craving interaction with someone. The two talk for a while, with the bird mentioning her search for informations and knowledge on the internet.

Krrah also mentions that a storm is approaching the island, something that Uuzoo wasn't aware of. The snake is shocked to her the news, finding herself completely unprepared for the situation. As the storm is already close enough to have thunder be heard, Krrah invites her to stay until it passes, which Uuzoo accepts, immediately leaving her home then.

The storm hits the city hard, endangering the lives of people, which prompts the guild to meet up and make sure the citizens make it out alive. Ahrow splits them into teams that disperse into various directions to take care of the situation. The only one sent alone is Yuw, who given her size, is still tall and strong enough to wade through the water easily. She gets the order to open up the manholes or, if need be forcefully create holes to the sewer so the water can flood them.

Yuw, nervous about having to deal with the situation all on her own and the responsibility placed on her shoulders, has a burst of anxiety, which causes Rutbouc to get into another fight with her, during which Yuw ends up accidentally yelling out loud, instead of keeping the discussion in their shared mind, which of course ends with the woman embarrassing herself in front of the other guild members. She quickly plays down the situation and changes the topic.

During her asking questions it is revealed that Ryahno is not around, as she was put under house arrest by Yavei for overworking herself to ridiculous levels. The group splits then, everyone heading to their destinations, with Ahrow using the storm winds to get around the city easily, his abilities allowing him to more or less dash along with them. On his way south he spots civilians in need and saves their son, fixating their raft near the rails, which Yuw would patrol, so the giant would aid in helping them.

Said woman was making her way to the first manholes. She hesitates for a moment, before opening the first manhole, hoping that Gwady is not in the sewers, as the rat would be in danger if the water flooded them. Rutbouc is immediately startled and vary of the others hesitation. After opening the manhole anyway, Yuw realises that in her panic she actually forgot where the other holes are, which makes the panic increase even more.

She ends up calling Ryahno for help, yelling at the woman in her anxiety, which causes the rat dragon's mood to do a nosedive, something even Bueh realises, causing the goat to hide behind the couch during the conversation. Though Ryahno still sort of appreciates to be able to help somehow, even though she is forced to stay home, so she gives Yuw further directions for the other manholes.

When it becomes clear that Yuw has specific orders to punch holes into the ground if there are no manholes, both Ryahno as well as Rutbouc in the giant's mind, yell at her to do so then, the two irritated with Yuw asking questions she already has the answers to. The giant feels like everyone is ganging up on her, but obeys anyway.

Meanwhile, at Krrah's apartment Uuzoo creates her Terio account, as the bird is sound asleep and she doesn't want to bother her. As she is still upset over the cold reaction she got from Ryahno, she struggles with her emotions while she plays through the tutorial and finally adds her commander to her friend list. She even doubts the woman will accept the invitation. However Ryahno does accept it and instantly engages into conversation with Uuzoo, who is so happy that she starts crying.

Characters
The following characters appear in this episode (in order):


 * Bayroff
 * Father Sheeki
 * Kuraz Ryahno
 * Octopus Café Owner
 * LingDang
 * Loco Wish
 * Tenyu Eesh Yuw
 * Rutbouc
 * Lozu Aimar
 * Yin Uuzoo
 * Guard in the background (no name mentioned)
 * Guard in the background (no name mentioned)
 * The Fire (mentioned)
 * ZeChow (mentioned)
 * Krrah
 * Su HowYu (mentioned)
 * Pabu Ran
 * Fung Gao Ghost Girl (mentioned)
 * Paci Ahrow
 * Hwong YiFung
 * Hwong YiFong
 * Ghess
 * Sheenyai Yavei
 * Gwadeweido
 * Bueh

Trivia

 * Just as he said, Bayroff warned Father Sheeki at least once before, in episode 26.


 * The owner of the Quiet Corner Café was originally planned to be a Tales of Dikuda version of Swishy from Zennore's Starbound comic.


 * This image has guest appearances from characters created for this contest: Azure, drawn by JoChao and Jian, drawn by Lyndonium.


 * It's not really obvious, due to her being covered by feathers, but Krrah is actually naked in this image.


 * Terio was originally meant to be an instant messenger like Skype, but was later changed to an online game.

Links

 * Official link to the post on tumblr.