Tournament

**Tournament** is the sixth episode or Tales of Dikuda. It is also the sixth episode of the first season.

## Summary

Ryahno invites Uuzoo to the annual martial arts tournament in Dikuda, where the former finds herself challenged by the leader of a political group in the city; HowYu, who seeks to gain more influence.

## Episode in Detail

The episode picks up where the previous one left off, with Uuzoo asking Ryahno if Dikuda is having a problem with rats. The snake explains the three encounters she's had with rats over the course of the time she spent here, before asking once again, if there is something she needs to know.

Taking a long time to come up with a response, Ryahno finally tells her that it's nothing Uuzoo needs to worry about, but that she should tell her, if she made any more connections like this. The snake is not happy with the answer, feeling like she is being kept in the dark about things, which makes it hard for her to keep trusting her commander.

In hopes of maybe getting new information, Uuzoo talks to her co-worker and guard partner, the otter SwayHan, who indeed has some knowledge he can share. Concerning the girl with the rat doll that Uuzoo saw in the forest, he tells the story of the FungGao Ghost Girl, a girl that was bullied in school and committed suicide and is said to now haunt the hallways, looking for revenge. He also mentions how he once found an article that stated that the girl actually survived.
SwayHan then talks about the rabbits Uuzoo encountered, saying that they're rabbits that walk on two legs and speak human language, but mostly lie, especially after eating meat.

As the end of Uuzoo's shift arrives, Ryahno shows up at her guard post, inviting her to join her for the yearly martial arts tournament held in Dikuda. They make their way there as Ryahno talks about the tournament, which is hosted by HowYu, who immediately challenges Ryahno when she arrives with the snake, wanting to gain control over the city guard by winning the match against her.

Ryahno refuses to react to the challenge, which prompts HowYu to call her a coward and the crowd to boo. It is then that Gwadeweido appears at the scene, intervening any further tries to challenge Ryahno. Instead she takes up the challenge to fight HowYu. During a short conversation between Ryahno and Gwady, Uuzoo notices how they seem to act more like friends, despite the rat being a criminal.

As Gwady and HowYu start fighting on the stage, the snake approaches her commander and asks her why she refused the challenge, to which she answers with it being a difference to gamble over personal possessions and gambling over the safety of the city.

It is then, that the two are joined by another person, MuDan, who is HowYu's apprentice and just like him calls the woman out for refusing the challenge, saying that she's too scared. When Ryahno doesn't react much to it she gets upset and demands to know why the woman isn't trying to defend herself. Uuzoo tries to intervene and defend her commander. In the end she and MuDan settle on fighting each other, where the snake wins after noticing her opponent's problem with balance.

Upset with her loss the girl takes off after a short conversation with Ryahno, during which she acts rude to the latter. Uuzoo comments on her commander's caring of the girl, to which Ryahno replies by telling her how she met the girl and that she is HowYu's apprentice. She continues by talking about how said mentor tries to regain control of the city, which his family used to be chieftains over until the Ink Butterfly came to the island.

At this point police forces arrive at the scene, causing Gwady to stop her fight with HowYu to make an escape, leaving the police to check if the place is safe to keep the tournament going.

Before Ryahno and Uuzoo part ways the snake asks her why she didn't stop Gwady when she showed up at the tournament, even though the rat is a criminal, with the response being that the rat wasn't breaking any laws at the time and that her actions were honorable, as in that she didn't cause any harm to people and played it fair. She also states that she doesn't know what the consequences would be if she denied the rat this moment.

Uuzoo then takes her leave, feeling a sting of jealousy that her commander seems to care about others just as much as she cares about the snake.

## Characters

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

* Kuraz Ryahno
* Yin Uuzoo
* SwayHan
* Gwadeweido
* Fung Gao Ghost Girl (mentioned only)
* The Dans (mentioned only)
* Su HowYu
* MuDan
* The Ink Butterfly (mentioned only)
* Tenyu Eesh Yuw
* Loco Wish

## Trivia

* When Uuzoo begins to doubt what Ryahno is telling her there were two ways for the story to unfold: Uuzoo becomes obsessed with trying to dig up information, or Uuzoo turning against Ryahno and becoming her enemy.

* Dan (誕), also called "Uh-Sow" (訛獸) are a real Chinese legend, as noted in this Chinese Wikipedia article. The text "訛獸，古代妖怪名，又叫誕。人臉兔身，會說人話言。喜歡騙人。吃了其肉後無法說真話。" can roughly be translated to "Uh-Sow, also called Dan. Human face, rabbit/hare body. Can speak in human language, likes to lie/trick. After eating meat, they can't speak truths at all."

* The outfit Ryahno is wearing during the tournament is considered her "formal party" outfit. The pattern is that of a rat dragon's head, with the sleeves having flame patterns.

* In this chapter MuDan was considerably older, which was changed later on. It's never stated anywhere, but the way she portrayed herself in the early episodes shows this. It is especially noticeable with how she called Uuzoo "Ryahno's bitch" and that the snake should "keep her mouth shut when big people are talking."