fe - celeste/sophia & aven support

Celeste:	Sophia and I didn't have a very, um... happy childhood. Kitsunes harbor a lot of... distrust and resentment towards humans.
Sophia:		Poachers are a common threat to exposed hamlets, and there are several tales of humans earning the trust of kitsune communities only to stab them in the back later.
Aven:    	A beaten hound judges future by past, ah. Sometimes I forget how lucky I was to have my mother.
Celeste:	Our father was a human. We grew up surrounded by, um... distrust, suspicion, discrimination, and sometimes outright hatred. The only friends we had were our parents and each other. I always had to be so careful with what I said, or I would make someone angry, so I, um... quickly learned to just stay quiet. It's hard to unlearn something like that.
Aven:    	Robbed you of comfort, robbed them of being audience to your lovely voice. It's a give-and-take, living like that. Never solves a damn thing, but it's not something you keep from happening.
Celeste:	It's irrational, I know it is, but... I just have this fear that I'm going to say the wrong thing and we'll... end up alone again.
Aven:    	I do understand, even if I might not seem the part. We were both presented with the same choice, speak loudly or fall silent. We just took different paths in the end. Gods, I resent that road for ever having been paved in the first place.
Sophia:		I wish I could say the community warmed up to us eventually, but... *sigh* They didn't get the chance.
Celeste:	Poachers attacked the hamlet...
Aven:    	And that's the sound it makes when it all comes crashing down.
Celeste:	I was five, Sophia was six. Sophia remembers it better than I do.
Sophia:		The villagers eventually drove the bandits off, but over half of the hamlet's population died in the attack. ...Our parents were among the dead.
Aven:    	I won't pretend our positions were symmetrical, but... I give all sympathy I'm capable of. Lost what little I had two weeks following my eighth birthday. It's one of the hardest things you can ask a person to endure.
Celeste:	The other reason I don't, um... talk much is because speaking is... actually a little difficult for me. *turns her head to the side and lifts her hair out of the way, revealing an impact scar along the side of her scalp*
Aven:	    Good lord--!
Sophia:		Speech impediment. She was struck in the head during the attack. Had to relearn how to speak properly.
Aven:    	...I had no idea. The catchphrase must have sounded bloody offensive, I'm so sorry...
Celeste:	Don't be. It's a good catchphrase. The remaining villagers, um... decided to send us off to the nearby human village. They said we would be safer there, said we'd fit in better... *shakes her head* They just... wanted to get rid of us.
Aven:    	Because ridding yourself of the problem is the same as fixing it, isn't it? ... Some people disgust me.
Sophia:		The survivors didn't do a very good job of hiding their whispering about us. They blamed our family for somehow leading the bandits here... *grits her teeth, growling slightly under her breath* They had the gall to blame our father for it, even though he died trying to protect the hamlet...!
Celeste:	Sophia...
Sophia:		... *relaxes, unclenching her jaw* S-sorry... I still get wound up thinking about it.
Aven:    	You and I both, believe me. Bandits are a cancer. Poachers... Ai. *Takes a deep swig of his drink.* Needed that before my blood boiled over. Sorry.
Celeste:	They were right about one thing. We did fit in better amongst the humans.
Sophia:		They didn't have any preexisting prejudice against kitsunes; we were welcomed with open arms.
Aven:    	Well... For everything I can make it mean, you've done more than 'fit in' among us. Walking behind Remus, we've all found friends in each other, and that's what makes this home, isn't it?
			*Celeste and Sophia both nod*
Aven:    	I can't speak on my own behalf as to if I'm succeeding, but... Well, in a few words, I've made it my life's goal to make everyone else's easier all I can. Perhaps the means aren't as noble as the end, but am I truly built to be a knight in shining armor?
Celeste:	*shakes head* Nor do you need to be. Life has all kinds of people; it's better to, um... work with who you are and do it well than to try to be something you're not.
Sophia:		We believe in judging people by their impact, not by simply what they do. It's easy to say stealing is immoral, but it's never that simple. A rich man won't miss a couple thousand gold; an affluent jewelry store won't miss a necklace or ring from the display case. And both of us appreciate the work you do; I doubt it's much of a stretch to say the others do as well.
Celeste:	*reaches for the sapphire necklace around her neck, smiling*
Aven: 		I wanted this to happen tonight because I think this is a night we all deserve. It's easy to look back and bring yourself down to how you were, but I've learned life becomes much more fulfilling when you realize how strong you are to have pulled yourself up.
Celeste:	*smiles* Thank you. We really have come a long way, haven't we, Sophie?
Sophia:		We have.
Aven: 		Raise the glasses high, now. Here's one to being stronger each step than the last. And Celeste? To making sure I have you speaking loudly yet.
Celeste:	Cheers!
Sophia:		Cheers.

===Aven & Celeste reached support rank A===
===Aven & Sophia reached support rank [A/B?]===