The Poison Polar's Tale: The Beginning

"They will be just wonderful, son. Congratulations on the egg," said the older Aqrion.

"Thank you, mother," the younger one replied, nudging the small egg resting safely in a little basket with his nose.

"They are going to be so strong when they grow."

"How can you tell?"

"I can just feel it," she smiled. "And when do I get to meet the mother?"

"Well... about that..."

"Don't you tell me you've had another senseless fling! Honestly, when you told me you were having an egg I thought you might have settled down. Why on earth did you leave this girl?"

"I met... another one..."

"Goodness gracious! I cannot believe my own son is such a rascal. Go on, get out of here. You have no place raising an egg when you've still got a lot of growing up to do yourself."

The younger one shrunk back a little from his mother's scolding, but turned away. "I'll see you next week?"

"Yes, you shall."

Once they were alone, she nuzzled the egg. "The nerve of him. He didn't even object to me taking you. Just goes to show, he really isn't up to the task. But don't you worry, little one, grandma's going to take real good care of you."

The egg hatched a few days later, and the old woman with one single brown tail was shocked but pleasantly surprised to find she had a grandson who sported two in a dazzlingly bright shade of green. At only a few hours old, the little boy was ramming his head into walls - he had gotten the hang of going, but not quite of stopping. She named the boy Thagom, after the dangerous swing of his twin tails and vowed then to take the best care of him she could until he was old enough to venture out into the big wide world on his own. She could tell, just by watching him so giddily swimming around, barely a few hours old, that he was the kind to live his life to the absolute fullest, and she couldn't wait to watch him do it.