A/N: Thanks as always to my good friend qazse for help with reactions and my brother Sai for both the script and the actual video: "The Fierce Flash! Tzitzi-Ya-Ku Lore". Check it out so you know what you're following along with and subscribe to his channel, because unless Rage gets back into making lores, Sai will be the only reason this story continues pretty soon.
The Fiver bro was sat at the canteen as he began to speak to someone. "Yeah, man, I gotta say. Things are looking up for me. I'm kind of like a celebrity now. The paparazzi won't leave me alone when I go out to the Coral Highlands. I can't go more than five feet without seeing a flash in the distance. It's like they can't get enough of me, dude! I bet I'm even more famous than you now! You might be the Sapphire Star, but I'm the super star!" The lazy hunter boasted said as it was revealed he was talking to Sai.
Many of them groaned at the return of the Fiver Bro. "Aw, man. Not this guy again. I had enough of him in the Tobi-Kadachi video." Jaune groaned.
"And now he's got an ego. Oh, joy." Emerald said sarcastically.
"He must be delusional. Who in the world would see HIM as a celebrity?!" Cinder questioned.
"Clearly, the paparazzi in the New World have too much time on their hands." Glynda said.
Who wasn't impressed, to say the least. "Okay, first off, I didn't ask you how you were or anything, or even talk to you. I just got back from a mission and you started talking to me. Who starts a conversation like that? Secondly, I straight up DO NOT believe you've ever been to the highlands, or even left that stool. Like, ever. And third, there's no paparazzi in the New World. And if there were, they'd have to be idiots to be out in the wild with a bunch of dangerous monsters around every corner. You know, the same kind of monsters we hunt for a living? And it's a monster that's causing all those flashes you saw, not people taking pictures of you." The actually competent hunter explained.
"Oh, my gods! I HATE it when people do that! Starting up a conversation to brag about themselves! I'm trying to enjoy my day! Can't I please just do that!?" Pyrrha snapped in a rare moment of rage for her. There were several times when some of her "rivals" from the Mistral Regionals would somehow randomly find her and brag about sponsorships they managed to get to try and flex. So what if it's a healthier cereal, no one's heard of it!
"Jacques Schnee always loves to brag every time he gets in the good graces of other councilmen who would support him in the bid for that empty council seat." Ironwood groaned as well.
But the mood soon changed with Sai's second point. "Yeah, I'm not gonna believe he went to the Highlands until I see him at least stand up." Ruby giggled.
"That stool must be the hardest worker in Astera. It NEVER gets a break!" Yang added, earning several laughs.
But then, many of them had to facepalm when Sai brought up the third point. "Why did we think there would be paparazzi in the New World?" Blake asked, mentally kicking herself.
"They'd have to be either the bravest or stupidest camera guys in the world if they follow hunters into the wild with man-eating monsters. But I'm willing to bet there's no one that crazy or dumb." Qrow said.
"Still, a monster that makes flashing lights sounds pretty cool. I could think of a few times that could've been useful." Roman said.
"On heists?" Summer questioned suspiciously.
"No comment." Roman said simply.
The gluttonous hunter seemed to take pause at this, apparently shocked by the new information he'd just learned. "We hunt monsters?!" He asked in shock.
And finally, Sai reached his limit on the stupidity he was willing to take from the lackluster hunter. "Okay, that does it." He declared, leaping high into the air and out of sight. "Tactical nuke! Incoming!" The Sapphire Star declared as he descended from the skies directly down on the Fiver Bro, resulting in a huge explosion.
"Tactical what?" Everyone asked in confusion.
"Why did he jump up so high, where is he going?" Penny wondered.
"You'll see." Razara said with a smirk, eagerly waiting to see what her uncle was going to do to the glutton.
And finally, the demonic host crashed to the ground with an explosion. "What the!? How the hell did he do that!? He can just explode!?" Ilia asked in disbelief.
"Well, he is a fire demon, after all. Fire can make explosions." Katana reminded them.
"Still, that was awesome! That lazy punk got dealt with!" Nora laughed along with several less mature members of the audience.
Weiss couldn't help but smirk at this. "If we're lucky, Sai finally took out that waste of space." She said jokingly.
"Wess! That's horrible!" Velvet said, aghast.
"It's also not wrong." Winter added, to the surprise of everyone.
Close up views of several endemic lifeforms in the Coral Highlands could be seen as if it was from an actual person's point of view. " Sight. Often said to be our most important of all the five senses, as we perceive up to 80% of all impressions by means of sight. Plus, since our brains are basically right behind and also connected to our eyes, it is perhaps the quickest way for us to receive and process information. But, in an area with large amounts of stimuli already, our vision can be used against us, as things such as bright lights or intense glares can cause a sensory overload, reducing our brain's capacity to process information." Sai explained as he now observed a Paolumu from a safe distance.
"Wow. I mean, I never thought being able to see WASN'T important, but I've never heard it sound so vital before. Or so dangerous if it's used against you." Coco said in surprise. After all, she had a blind teammate, but that hardly slowed him down at all.
"It's just like any other ability you have. It can be incredibly useful, but if you rely on it too much or become dependant on it, it can be used against you." Hazel said.
"Indeed. In the White Fang, we were taught how to fight dirty. Being able to mess with someone's eyesight, either by throwing dirt in their eyes or reflecting sunlight into them, was one of the first things we learned." Adam said.
A trio of dog-sized grey and salmon-colored lizards were tearing at a carcass, unaware of a blue raptor-like creature looming over them. "And today's topic monster has actually weaponized this to become a light bright as a star itself... which isn't great when its 20 feet away from you. The swift flash of the Coral Highlands. The Dazzling Bird, Tzitzi-Ya-Ku." Sai declared as the raptor jumped down to face the lizards, but soon found itself outnumbered and cornered. But before the situation turned any worse for the raptor, it suddenly opened the strange sideways antennae on its head into large, vividly-colored frills, which flashed with a bright bluish-white light once, before unleashing a second massive and blinding flash of light, causing the pupils of the lizards to greatly shrink at the sudden increase of light and forcing Sai to shield his eyes. The lizards then ran away as the raptor roared at them.
"Uh... I don't know if Sai's ever seen a bird before. But that is NOT a bird. That's a whole dinosaur. A raptor." Neo said.
"Well, Neo, the word 'raptor' actually means bird of prey." Penny told her.
"And not to mention, it is believed that many dinosaurs, especially ones like raptors, evolved to become our modern birds." Ren added.
"Still, it is really cool and pretty-" Ruby began, before being shocked along with the others when they saw the flash come from the fins on the monster's head. "No way... It's like a walking flash bang grenade!" She cried out in excitement.
"That could certainly be useful for getting you out of a dangerous situation, especially if you find yourself cornered as the raptor just was." Ozpin agreed.
Sai now followed the raptor from a reasonable distance. "A dromaeosaur similar to many other smaller Bird Wyverns like Great Izuchi, Velocidrome or its close relative Kulu-Ya-Ku, Tzitzi-Ya-Ku has a small and lithe frame balanced on two muscular legs that let it run at incredible speeds. Its feet also end in sharp claws, along with its surprisingly strong arms, that help it climb the rocky cliff sides of the Coral Highlands. Or, of course, grasp prey and prevent them from escaping. It's back is also line with short, but sharp spines that would make jumping on its back a rather poor idea. It also has one more unique trait based on the fins on the sides of its head, but we'll talk more about those later." The host explained as he continued to observe the raptor.
"I always thought raptors were really cool. They're probably my favorite dinosaur." Jaune said.
"Because you watch to much Cretaceous Park and Cretaceous World?" Yang asked with a smirk.
"I will neither confirm nor deny that." The leader of team JNPR declared.
"I like it's coloring, too. Very pretty." Summer admitted.
"It kind of resembles the environment, so it's probably for camouflage." Emerald theorized.
The raptor was now sleeping peacefully in its den as Sai sat nearby. "Now, being THE smallest large monster on the map and the smallest carnivore that DOESN'T hunt in a pack, Tzizi-Ya-Ku is pretty low on the food chain and thus, has developed its navy blue coloring to blend in with the coral of the Highlands. It also stays down in the lower areas of the biome, for the most part, where it can avoid confrontation with the big threats like Legiana, Paolumu and Odogaron. And in keeping with that idea of avoiding confrontation, it is also relatively peaceful to humans, as long as you give it proper space and don't get in its way too often." The Sapphire Star informed as he followed the creature through the Highlands once again.
"Yep. Camouflage. Called it." Emerald said proudly.
"No one was arguing against it being camo." Qrow told her.
And then they heard of its mostly peaceful nature. "Yay! Another passive monster! That makes it BETTER than Cretaceous Park!" Ruby said happily.
"BUT! He also said you have to keep your distance. So don't expect to be able to simply run up and hug it." Weiss told her.
"Well, duh! Do you guys really think I'm that reckless and irresponsible that I'd do something like that?" Ruby questioned.
The sound of crickets could be heard as the rest of the audience simply looked at her. "Yes." They all said together.
The Bird Wyvern once again faced off against a group of the dog-sized lizards. "Its only real competition are the Shamos that inhabit the lower areas as well. It can take on one or two Shamos on its own with little problem, but three or more and it quickly finds itself in trouble. But thankfully, it can easily get itself out of trouble with the fins I mentioned earlier, that really help the enemy SEE things Tzitzi's way." Sai declared as the raptor unleashed its flash attack once again to drive off the lizards.
A fish man looked up at a blinding light. "My eyes!" He cried out in agony as the light was burning his eyes, to the point they were even smoking.
This got a laugh out of the teens and even a few of the less mature adults. "I mean, you can't blame him. I'd probably be screaming like that, too, if someone basically blinded me with a light coming out of their face." Roman admitted.
"I'm definitely glad Katana gave us these sunglasses." Blake said.
"Ooh, it's so pretty! I could stare at that all day." Nora said, almost hypnotized by the light.
"Um, yeah... I'm pretty sure that's still bad for you, even with sunglasses on." Ilia told her.
Sai was no running from an enraged Paolumu until he lured it to the Tzitzi-Ya-Ku. "Housed within each of the two fins are organs known as Photophores, which pulse and unleash blinding flashes of light that cause the sensory overload I mentioned earlier, leaving whoever witnessed it stunned and vulnerable..." The host explained as the raptor managed to blind the fluffy fiend and bring it to the ground. "... Except for Odogaron because they're almost blind." He added awkwardly as the dromaeosaur tried to flash the Fand Wyvern, but while it did briefly reel back, it quickly recovered and brought down the Bird Wyvern.
"Yep. A bright flash is definitely an effective tactic. That's how I kicked blondie's butt on the train." Neo said teasingly, looking at Yang with a smirk.
"Oh, I'm still gonna pay you back for that, you little troll." Yang said, tickling her a bit.
"That would certainly provide an excellent method of escape in a dire situation." Penny theorized.
"Or, several of them could be posted at entrances or unrepaired breaches in defensive walls for towns and cities, so in the event Grimm attempt to invade, the raptors can blind them, allowing Huntsmen and Huntresses to capitalize on the distraction to finish them off." Ironwood came up with yet another plot on how to militarize the monster.
"Sir, with all due respect, I highly question the effectiveness of that plan. It seems like that flash takes a while to activate. The Grimm would likely reach the raptors before they can deploy the flash." Winter told him.
"That must be terrible, when you only have one weapon to give yourself an edge and protect yourself in nature, but there's someone out there that's immune to your ONE SPECIFIC thing." Velvet said, feeling sympathy for the dromaeosaur as Odogaron brought it down.
"It's as Mr. Reinhart said earlier, it is dangerous to rely on a single ability to protect yourself, lest you become defenseless when they single ability isn't able to get you out of that situation. Like how you must learn to fight without a weapon in case you are disarmed... Miss Rose." Glynda said, glancing sideways at Ruby, who scratched the back of her head, laughing sheepishly.
The host observed the raptor once again as it blinded a Raphinos and brought it to the ground. "It's unknown EXACTLY how these organs work, whether it be from the synthesizing of microorganisms in its body, or due to its diet of luminescent coral and Flying Meduso- little glowing jellyfish that fly around the Highlands- but what we DO know is they pulse these organs to create blinding flashes of light, giving the raptor an opportunity for a quick escape or an opening to attack. Or to bring down and stun their prey to make them easy to catch, kill and eat. It's also for this reason that they can sometimes be seen gathering small, shiny shells throughout the Highlands, which they line their nests with, since they also reflect and diffuse light to either amplify the initial flash, or rebound the flash to blind their opponent if they somehow avoid the first flash. This may be for protection, but its also believed males do this to put on a better light show to impress the females." Sai explained as the creature feasted on its kill.
"Oh, sweet! So we just need to eat some jellyfish and we can shoot flashes of light from our faces?" Yang asked.
"I highly doubt it, Miss Xiao Long. The Tzitzi-Ya-Ku have likely had hundreds, if not thousands of years to adapt to eating the Meduso and gaining their luminescent abilities, as they have evolved the photophores Sai spoke of, whereas we have not." Ozpin told her.
"Besides, he said that might not even be the reason, it could also be microorganisms in their bodies." Adam added.
"Is jellyfish even edible?" Coco asked.
"Actually, yes. It's even considered a delicacy in certain places like Mistral and Menagerie. You just have to make sure it's thoroughly cleaned, because they contain bacterial pathogens that can cause food poisoning." Ren explained. [1]
Then, the more romantics among the group smiled when they heard about the shells in the nest. "I think it's lovely that they're willing to do all that to impress a mate." Pyrrha said with a smile.
"I'm more impressed they figured out how to use the shells and their dens to amplify the flash. That's not something you just find out. That takes a high degree of intelligence to understand." Cinder said, intrigued.
Sai was fighting a Legiana, when suddenly, a Tzitzi-Ya-Ku ran in. "And despite what I said about Tzitzi wanting to avoid confrontations, they for some reason like to be trolls, often running to wherever a fight is currently happening, be it between hunter and monster or just two monsters fighting, blinding and stunning everyone in the area, then running off just as suddenly as it happened. Some find this annoying, but the majority of hunters- myself included- find this to be incredibly helpful, just as long as you shield your eyes from the flash or prepare for this with ways to protect yourself from being stunned, you have basically just been given a free opening to attack your target." The host explained as the raptor unleashed its flash, bringing down the Legiana while Sai was completely unaffected, allowing him to attack the creature while it was down.
"Alright! Another monster troll!" The pranksters of the group all cheered.
"I NEED to get one of these." Neo said.
"Hope you don't mind sharing it, because I want it, too." Yang told her.
"I'd wait around the corner for team CRDL, then jump out with my raptor and make it blind them, then I'd smash their toes with my hammer!" Nora devised her "prank".
"I could think of a few people I would give a video call on my scroll right when the thing's about to flash." Qrow said, looking to Ironwood, who simply gave him a death glare.
"There's just so many pranking possibilities! I've definitely got to get one!" Summer cried out.
"But it's almost like a superhero, it comes in to save the day when there's trouble! I love it even more now!" Ruby cheered.
A close-up of the raptor was then shown. "You have earned the coveted Sai Blade nod of respect... I just nodded." Sai declared, although it sounded like an older man with Sai's voice quickly throwing in "Sai Blade" in place of something else.
"Same here!" Ruby said, earning nods agreement from several others like Ironwood, Winter, Jaune, Penny and Hazel.
"Heck, with that in mind, we wouldn't even have to do your plan of staffing them at the town defenses, general. They may hear a fight and come do that themselves." Jaune said.
"That might be a bit of a stretch... but not out of the realm of possibility, apparently." Winter admitted.
Sai was now finally fighting the beast. "So, what do you have to worry about when fighting the Tzitzi-Ya-Ku? Well, like I've mentioned about a dozen times at this point, it can blind you if you do not shield your eyes in time, causing sensory overload and leaving you vulnerable to its next attack, which will come from either very sharp claws or teeth, or having it crush you with its weight when it pounces on you. But it has to pulse and charge up its organs to unleash the big flash, so you know what's coming and can get out of range in time. Or, like I said, cover your eyes, or maybe wear some shades. And, if you're too close, it can kick you with its extremely powerful legs, which will definitely NOT feel good. Just keep on the move, anticipate its movements and get out of the way, then land your strike in time and you'll be fine. Also, if you attack its head and break its fins, it can't do the flash anymore. Even though, in my opinion, YOU would be the monster for doing that... You monster." The host instructed as he dodged the beast's attacks and delivered his own.
Many were disturbed or outright horrified at the idea of crippling its fins... Especially a certain trio. "What?! Why would anyone do that! That's so evil!" Velvet cried out.
"I agree. That's absolutely atrocious. That's its only means of defense against larger predators or small competing pack monsters! No one should even consider doing something so heinous!" Pyrrha said furiously.
"Yeah! That's gonna be one of the official rules of hunting monsters on Remnant! No hunting Dodogamas and no breaking Tzitzi's fins!" Ruby insisted.
"It's simply removing a monster's advantage in order to make fighting them easier, like disabling an enemy's arm or leg. It's just fighting smart. They probably grow back eventually anyway." Hazel told them. But any further words he had to say were stopped when he saw the death glares the three "sweet and innocent" girls were giving him, feeling as if their glares were turning the blood in his body to ice and that, if looks could kill, he would be dead A THOUSAND times over.
"Hazel, I believe it would be in your best interests right now to shut your mouth and not utter another word." Adam told him nervously.
"Good advice." Roman agreed shakily.
Tekko could then be seen wandering through the Highlands. "So that's technically all there is to know about Tzitzi-Ya-Ku itself, but one last important thing I feel I should mention is Tzitzi's importance to the Commission allying with the Grimalkyne tribe of the Coral Highlands, a band of musically gifted Felynes simply known as Troupers. After having trouble with a pair of Tzitzi-Ya-Ku, they learned to communicate with, tame and ride the Shamos, arguably Tzitzi's biggest enemies. Unfortunately, the excitement and newfound power quickly went to their heads and they tried to test their new abilities by trying to MURDER my niece, Tekko." Sai recounted the events as Tekko stumbled upon the Felynes, who commanded their Shamos to attack her. "Luckily, she handled the problem and her mother never found out about it." He added as Tekko defeated the Shamos and sent the Felynes running.
Blake's ears perked up as a big smile quickly spread across her face. "Musical Felynes! That's amazing!" She said in awe.
"I wonder if they play the keyboard?" Emerald asked with a smirk, referencing the infamous meme.
"Well, that's quite impressive that they were able to figure out how to tame the Shamos. Surely that could've been no easy feat." Glynda said.
But then, they were shocked at both hearing and seeing that the Felynes attacked Tekko, everyone turning their heads to the youngest of the ice demons. "They tried to kill you!?" Ilia asked in shock.
"O-oh... Th-they were just a little excited and worked up from taming the Shamos, they didn't really mean it." The lavender-haired demon assured them.
"And WHY did no one think I should find out about this?!" Katana asked sternly.
U-uh, well... W-we were just a little concerned that you might go overboard and wipe out the Troupers." Razara nervously told her mother.
"And I would've! And I'm GOING TO!" The hostess declared furiously.
"N-now, now, Mom! There's no need for that! I'm perfectly fine! Not a scratch on me!" Tekko assured her mother.
A man in a cape was seen talking to a shorter man with glasses. "Her mother's already nusty coo-coo!" The caped man said in sing-song, tilting his head back and forth.
Everyone sitting near Katana widened their eyes in horror, before scooting away from the hostess for safety. Only Razara was brave enough to stay beside her, but she was still clearly nervous. "M-Mom... Are you okay?" She asked apprehensively.
All the while, Katana just sat there, staring at the screen with a blank, but furious stare. "I'm gonna kill him." She said.
"You might want to send your uncle some kind of warning." Weiss whispered to Tekko.
"Don't worry, I'm already on it." Tekko assured her, sending a letter through a portal.
Tekko was then seen talking with the Troupe leader. "But, Tekko worked things out with their leader, took down the two raptors and now we can ride Shamos and our Felynes can play fancy instruments." Sai explained as his niece fought against the two raptors and captured them both.
"Hey, look. Little instruments. For our cats. Isn't that cool." Ruby said with a smile, hoping to try and ease Katana's mood. It did not work.
"So, what exactly does that do? Like surely it must serve a purpose, right?" Cinder asked.
"Oh, yeah. It's basically like a version of the hunting horn, but for your Felyne, so they can play a giant bongo drum and power you up with its rhythm." Razara explained.
"Wow. That's actually really useful." Coco said, impressed.
Sai followed the raptor from a safe distance one final time. "And so, that is the full story of Tzitzi-Ya-Ku, easily the monster LEAST likely to kill you in the Coral Highlands and might even come by and give you a hand in a tough hunt. It's quirky, interesting and iconic, just being a straight-up raptor and being a living flashbang is really cool. And, in a way, it's similar to the light it produces: it's a beautiful and stunning show in brief glances, but look for too long and you could easily be blinded by its intensity." The host finished as he stopped and let the creature go about its day.
"As always, yet another poetic point to end on." Ozpin said with a smile.
"Right? How's he come up with this stuff?" Qrow asked.
"I thought it was rather fitting with everything else he said about it." Penny said.
"Well, I think we can all agree this is one monster we'd be more than happy to have in Remnant, right?" Summer asked, to which everyone else nodded.
Finally, Katana's rage seemed to subside and, after taking a deep breath and letting it out with a sharp sigh. "So, what did you guys think?" She asked.
Many of them were still a bit nervous about angering Katana, but slowly lightened up and began to speak. "I-I think it was really cool. I like the whole raptor look and it's really cool to see a monster that makes blinding flashes. That's something we haven't seen so far." Jaune said.
"Agreed. It also does seem rather charming and quirky, as Sai pointed out earlier." Pyrrha agreed.
"And I like how it sometimes shows up to flash monsters when their fighting hunter or other monsters. I mean, as long as you don't look at the flash, it's a free opening for you, whether you want to attack or get away." Blake told the hostess.
"Yeah, that's definitely really cool." Ilia admitted.
"Who knows, with one of them at your side, even the most dire fight could be won if their flash can provide you the opening you need, for even the briefest moment." Adam added.
Ruby then gasped as she came up with another one of her "genius" ideas. "Ooh, wait! I just thought of something! Since this thing is a passive monster, they would probably be easy to tame! So we could put them in petting zoos and pet stores! They'd be just like Teal from Cretaceous World!" She declared.
"That would be so awesome! Especially if they could be trained to work in packs! And if we can make them change colors, we could recreate the whole pack with Bravo and Tango!" Nora cheered.
Heck, yeah! That would be awesome!" Yang agreed.
"And like I said at the beginning, their colors are awesome. I could see them becoming serious designer or high-class pets." Coco agreed.
"Yeah. I think that would be a lot of fun." Velvet even agreed with the plan.
Weiss, however, along with several others, sighed at this idea. "Ruby, you do recall that Sai only said they were passive when given proper space, right? A petting zoo is the exact OPPOSITE of that!" She said.
"Agreed. Taming a wild animal is almost impossible and even then, when they seemed tame, there is always a chance they could resort to their primal instincts and attack someone." Penny pointed out.
"Then again... We might have to add an age limit on those petting zoos. I doubt any parents out there would be happy if one of these raptors FLASHED their kids." Yang said with a smirk, while everyone else groaned. "Eh? You get it? Like the DIRTY kind of flashing?" She asked, looking around to see if anyone approved the joke. No one did.
"Just... Just tell us what's next." Cinder said in exasperation.
Katana shivered at this. "Hoo, boy... You guys better get ready for this one. Honestly, this monster even freaks ME out. Prepares yourselves, because morudomunto looks like something that stepped straight out of a nightmare." The hostess told them, before playing the next video.
[1] Yes, this is true. I looked it up. Just replace Mistral and Menagerie with East and Southeastern Asian countries for where jellyfish is considered a delicacy and I basically lifted what Ren said straight from Google.