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Who: Samael, Cordelia
When: Feb 25
Where: Lovely large park
Weather: Sunny with a slight breeze

The whole park was teeming with activity today. It was Animals Day and all kinds of businesses were putting up booths or giving presentations through out the day. Some were animal shelters, showing off their adoptees and telling of success stories of those who'd been taken from horrible conditions and given to loving homes. There were farmers who educated children on cows, chickens, and other animals common on their land. There were even some professors from the local collage talking about the eco-system and how every animal had a place in it.

A large area was set aside for the Zoo and Head Keeper Samael. She was there to give information and answer questions about her favorite kind of animals; reptiles! Sam loved her scaly babies, treating them with the utmost care and respect. A large covered area housed large glass tanks where the animals could be seen but pose no danger to the humans. However you could not just go up and tap on the glass, a good three feet had to be maintained away from the tanks to prevent harassment of the animals. Of course there were other animals see; tarantulas, rats and mice, even a few frogs and toads.

A large black man hefted a table up and began putting pamplets out for the zoo and information about their conservation and rehabilitation program. "Oi, Sam! You got any more of those coloring pages for the kids?" he called out in a deep voice.

"Sure Tau, give me just a minute!" the red-headed woman smiled and finished securing a tent pole. Couldn't have her babies get too hot! Digging through a large box she fished out the coloring pages and handed them over. Next she tested a speaker before putting in a small microphone ear piece. "Testing...testing...Ah good."

The woman walked in front of the table and tend to make her announcement. She was tan skinned with waist length long red hair which seemed to be gradient bleached toward the tips. Bright warm brown eyes looked out at the groups of people moving from one place to the other.

"Attention Park Goers! The Reptile House Presentation from the Durem Zoo will begin in a few minutes! Please make your way over to be introduced to some very beautiful creatures!"

Sam smiled as people began gathering around. She always loved these demonstrations even though she hated stressing her babies. She usually chose those animals who were use to being handled or large crowds. Once she'd gotten a decent crowd she held up her hands and called for silence.

"Thank you everyone for coming! My name is Samael, just call me Sam. I am the Head Keeper of the Reptile and Nocturnal House at the Durem Zoo. Today I wanted to introduce some of my beautiful babies to you," she smiled. Thankfully the ear piece microphone allowed her to keep her hands friend, which helped as she lifted a large boa constrictor gently from his tank.

"Everyone, meet Tater. He's a four year old boa constrictor. He got the name Tator from his eating habits. As you all know snake swallow their food whole, they can even unhinge their jaw to swallow large prey. Tator here decided to eat a large muskrat and it looked like a potato in his belly."

Several people laughed, the children up front giggling at the funny name. Sam walked around, telling people how Tater was rescued from someone who illegal sold exotic pets Tator was most likely taken out of his home and sold to someone who thought having a snake was cool. But she reminded them all that these snakes can get extremely big and some irresponsible owners just release them into the forest once they get too big. While the snake can normally take care of themselves they can kill the local bird and small animal population. Also in colder climates it could be deadly to them.

Sam's talk showed just how much she cared about her animals, she had the fiery passion in her eyes as she spoke. Walking around she allowed people to pet Tator, the relaxed snake earning giggles as he flicked his tongue on people. She answered the standard questions; what does it eat? I thought it'd be slimy. It feels so thick. She gave a brief description of snake anatomy, even talking about how they can climb trees without arms or legs. She put Tator back in his tank, letting him calm down and enjoy some shade time.

"Now I'll show you a fun little animal. She's quite full of herself and is not afraid to show you her talents. So please be gentle with her. My darling little basilisk lizard, Gem!" she spoke as she lifted a smaller lizard onto her hand from another tank.

Sam was about to start describing Gem when a question came from the back. She could see a dark haired girl but nothing more. She thought the question a good one and decided to answer, "An excellent question. As some people may know a basilisk is the name of a Greek creature known as basilískos or 'little king'. Descriptions of the creature say it was part snake, rooster, and lion. Other animals parts have been described but those are the most common."

She held the small up, it was brown with dark stripes on it. It seemed perfectly relaxed, gazing about at the audience with an air of superiority. "Descriptions in historical text and even religious text describe the creature and when this species was discovered it resembled it. These lizards are found in tropical climates. Some have great frills that look like the rooster's crown or the ring of feathers. However little Gem here cannot kill with you with a glance or turn you to stone. She's use to be held as she was hatched at the zoo."

Pointing up to a screen under a tent to prevent glare Sam showed the audience how, when a basilisk wishes to escape a predator they can quite literally run on water. Luckily their animals didn't have to worry about such things. She described their diet and what they fed them, detailing how they try to ensure they get the most accurate diet the animals would have in the wild.

A smaller child in the front raised his hand, asking the innocent question of why they don't let them go back to the jungle. Sam smiled, a little sadness in her eyes, "Well little one most of the animals at the zoo are unable to return to the wild. We have an excellent rehabilitation team at the zoo and regularly release animals who've been wounded and came into our care. But animals brought in from the exotic pet trade and illegal zoos are unable to live in the wild. Most have no idea how to properly hunt or defend themselves. Some have injuries that will stay with them for the rest of their lives and could get them eaten or prevent them from finding food."

She allowed everyone to look at Gem up close, but no touching was allowed as the little lizard preferred her handler's touch to that of strangers. "If we are going to release an animal we want them to have the best chance to survive and live in their proper home. We don't want them to suffer. So we do our best to get them ready for the wild, but if they cannot, we give them as accurate a home as possible."

Sam showed several more animals to the crowd; a brightly colored frog she had to wear gloves with due to it's poison, another snake from the constrictor family, and a very large toad. She described each of them, answer questions about their lives and talking about how they helped people learn about their cousins in the wild.

A woman in the middle raised her hand, she seemed snobby and rather stuck up with her nose in the air. "This is all well and good but why should we care about dangerous and wild animals. I mean they just sit there waiting to bite us."

Sam's eye twitched at the comment as she placed the large toad back in it's tank. "Madam I will tell you this. There is only one dangerous animal I've ever come across in all my years in the jungles of South America to the plains of Africa. And that's a human. Humans are dangerous. They fight each other over ideas. Animals are not dangerous, they fight for food, shelter, and mates. Am I afraid of my charges, no. I am cautious and careful. These animals don't sit and twirl their non-existent mustache thinking of ways to hurt us. They are merely living. Hunting for food, looking for water, seeking shelter. Then we walk through like we own the place, loud and smelly; a totally foreign being in their home. If aliens arrived, so much bigger than us and tramped through a suburban neighborhood you wouldn't exactly be happy about it would you? No, didn't think so. When you are in the wilderness you must be aware, you must be cautious. That is not your home, it is there's."

Sam continued her discussion of the animals she'd brought for people to see. She answered more questions, ones more about her job as Head Keeper and introduced Tau to the audience. "He is my right hand man, the best I could hope for. We've known each other since we were children and both have a passion for animals."

The man spoke in a deep, sonorous voice but had a warm smiling face. He spoke of his own work in Africa and Egypt with the local animals there and zoos helping conservation. He mostly dealt with the Nocturnal House but assisted Sam with some of the snakes given their massive strength. He spoke of how muscular snakes were, that even he being so strong could not always untangle a snake from around someone's arm. A teenager in the group asked, with typical morbid curiosity, if Sam had ever been bitten by a snake.

"Oh of course," she chuckled, "If you are going to work with animals you will always get bitten. And it's usually your own fault. You have to learn an animal's mood. And as I don't speak snake I have to look at their behavior, how they are responding to the handlers. If I don't watch my movements I stand a chance of getting bit."

The woman showed her arms, which showed no scars save for a few that looked old. The signs the woman lead an adventurous lifestyle. "As you can see I have no scars and I'm most certainly alive. Snake bites, the non-poisonous kind, are quite painful and look worse than they are. Snake saliva contains blood thinners which means you seem like you're bleeding more than you are. I have been bitten twice by poisonous snakes, a cobra in Africa and a rattlesnake in the Badlands. Hurt like a mother and I was sick for a bit. But each time I was being reckless and not paying attention. So I paid the Stupid Tax."

Some people chuckled but others looked a bit disturbed. They asked why she still continued to work with such animals if she'd been bitten. Wasn't she afraid?

"Oh no, I'm not afraid at all. I feel for these animals. Most have seen the darker side of human nature, I hope to show them we are not all big jerks. We care, we want them to live their lives as best they can. We, as a species, have hurt more animals than I can count for simple greed. But learning about animals is the first step to loving them, to caring about them."

That ended the presentation. Tau handed out pamphlets for the zoo as well as the coloring pages for the children. Sam went back to the tent to check on all her animals, hoping they weren't getting too hot. She poured cool water in a few dishes to set inside their tanks. Allowing the animals to cool themselves in their own ways. The lizards drank the nice cool water while the snakes preferred to lay part of their body in it. She smiled and spoke to her babies.

Sam loved her animals and was glad to see they all seemed comfortable. Though she heard a strange noise, it sounded like hissing. Was it one of her snakes being agitated. She began examining each, the last being Tator. But as she turned a dark haired girl...no...a Raevan...extended her hand.

Sam almost didn't shake her hand, enthralled by the girl's looks but quickly recovered. From her time meeting tribes in the jungles and rain forests she'd learned not to stare. "It is very nice to meet you Cordelia. And....he says I'm taking good care of them? Who?"

She glanced over at the tank she was next to, "You mean....Tator? You...can speak to him?"

Sam seemed amazed at such a feet and frankly excited. She'd love to know what her charges thought at times, though she imagined sometimes they weren't kind. Usually during vet visits she thought.

The red head smiled at the boa, a loving look in her eyes. She was doing well, he was happy. Given he most likely would've ended up as snake meat on the black market after his owner abandoned him she felt relieved he was content. "Well I'm glad he feels taken care of. He's such a handsome boy, I'd hoped to find him a nice female in the future. You are a Raevan yes? It's wonderful to see another of your kind. I've only met one, and my own is not yet born."

Sam was amazed as the girl explained she was a Parselmouth, she thought those only existed in story books. Then again beings like Dior and Cordelia here were hardly in the normal literature. She wanted so much to ask if Cordelia would talk to the rest of her babies but she didn't want to see rude, having just me the girl. Maybe one she got to know her better she'd invite her to the zoo.

And the girl had a snake soul! Sam's mind immediately began going through the roll-a-dex of snake species. They were her absolute favorite animal, always admiring their abilities to conquer their environments even without limbs. She wondered if Cordelia perhaps had a King Snake or Black snake soul, giving her coloration. Then again Dior was a cockroach which were brown and black, yet she was white and golden. So the soul must not add much to color but physical attributes. Then essence giving color and perhaps other abilities. She only hoped the snake met a peaceful end.

Cordelia seemed older, a bit more mature than Dior. Sam wasn't sure how Raevan's matured, if it took years like human children or if they had some sort of sped up aging. But from the two she'd seen she could determine they all started with ribbon style bodies and a glowing rune in the middle. She wondered if each rune had a meaning, she'd have to as Reuben, he'd know more about such things.

"I suppose, I've only met two other guardians since I got my essence and bottle. I receiving the Poisoned Apple essence, the real apple from the fairytale Snow White. I've captured the soul and sent it off, just waiting to hear from them," she smiled and nodded, motioning the girl to follow her. She poured some crickets and other live animals into some of the tanks, giving the reptiles their afternoon meal. "I feed them live food, gives them the real sense of hunting."

"I would be glad for my Raevan to have a friend, especially one with more experience in this world. The other Raevan? Her name is Dior, essence of a Gilded Lily and the soul of a cockroach if I'm correct. She's quite young, just recently born from what her guardian said."

Sam smiled as the girl asked about her essence but there was a sadness to her face as well. She pulled out her phone and showed Cordelia a picture of a fluffy black and white animal with a floof tail, "I used a skunk actually. He....he wasn't going to live much longer, through no fault of his own. But I couldn't bear the idea of his life being wasted due to the selfishness of others. So I thought to give him a new life with someone who cared about him. His name was Hurtz."

She put her phone away and made one last round for the animals, they'd be packing up soon and she wanted them as de-stressed as possible for their return to their enclosures. "If it is not too personal, what kind of snake is your soul? I love snakes, always have. To me they represent that nothing can hold you back, you can reach any goal you wish. Snakes can swim, climb trees, so many things without limbs. Wonderful, amazing animals."

Sam saw the look of worry on the girl's face, realizing perhaps she shouldn't have asked about her soul so soon after meeting. Maybe Raevans were sensitive about their souls? Dior didn't seem too upset, she relished her fellow insects. As Cordelia spoke she mentioned her earlier question about basilisks, which same remembered. Then out it came. But it confused the woman a bit, the girl said her soul was a snake so she could talk to them.

"A basilisk soul? But I thought you said you were snake souled?" she seemed generally confused until.....her eyes blinked as the old story played through her mind. She looked to the Frei, "Do you mean THE basilisk, from the old legends?"

Instead of fear or confusion a light of absolute joy crossed the woman's face. The thought of legendary reptiles, not dinosaurs, but real LEGENDARY reptiles being alive made her burst with enthusiasm. "Oh...my....god...that is so amazing! Oh to see such a magnificent creature! Well I suppose seeing it would be a bit dangerous but oh! It would be a dream to see it's habitat, it's hunting and eating abilities!"

Suddenly Sam flushed red, "Oh! I'm so sorry Cordelia! Here I am talking like a scientist when it's your soul! Sorry I....just...." the redheaded woman looked to the snakes in her care, "I just want to show people they aren't something scary, something to be feared. Fear makes people rash and do horrible things. Caution keeps you level headed, fear just leads to bad decisions."