Lions and Eagles part 1

The hunt.
Theo raised his head and sniffed the air, he could see the griffin, he could sense its fear, smell it's sweat and blood. It was exhausted, injured from some previous fight, but that didn't matter, they were the hunters and it was the prey. But there was something else, a foreign sent.
He watched the griffin as it padded along, it had a slight limp and carrying something small and pale in its mouth. Theo followed it, always keeping below the grass line, he could see the other hunters from his pack slowly closing in on the griffin. They had golden fur, tails that flicked back and forth with anticipation and short, catlike muzzles, they were the lion folk.
Timing was everything, if they made the slightest sound or attacked to early the griffin would just fly away. One of the hunters gave the signal and they attacked, Theo threw his spear, which arched through the air and penetrated the griffin's flank. This was followed by a volley of arrows, the griffin screeched, dropping its bloody white bundle. It broke into a staggered run and tried to take flight, some of the hunters threw a net over it. Others ran in and pinned the beast down as the leader slit its throat; the crimson blood flooded onto the earth and stained her hands. She took a handful of the blood drenched dirt and rubbed it onto the dead griffin's skin, saying a prayer and giving respect to it's life.
The hunters now began to slice of chunks of flesh and place them into woven grass bags while the younger ones ran off to collect the stray arrows. There came a shout from one of them, "Rin! Rin! There's something here! I think it's alive!"
The leader wiped the blood of her hands and walked over to where a small crowd of youths had gathered, all gaping and pointing at the white thing on the ground. Theo and a couple more hunters followed behind her, they all stopped, stunned at what they saw.
Lying unconscious on the ground was a small child, her pale, blood splattered skin was quite the contrary to the hunters golden, brown fur. Feathered sprouted on her arms and waist, her last two finders extended out to become wings. She wore the remains of a tunic that had been ripped apart by beak and claws. Her breathing was shallow but she was still alive.
The hunters gaped at the creature, they had never seen anything like it.
"What is it?"
"Is it an angel?"
"It looks like a harpy."
"It's a spirit."
Rin stamped her foot, "Ok, everyone quiet! Erin, go back to the village and let the chief know about this and that we will be bringing it back." A young lanky girl nodded and ran off. "Now Sharna and Theo, you two are to take it to the village. Everyone else, go back to your work."
Slowly the crowd dispersed, a few young hunters lingered behind but hurried off when Rin looked at them before leaving herself. Only Theo and Sharna stood towering over the winged child. After a while Sharna looked up," Um, Theo? How are we meant to carry it without hurting it? It looks so frail..."
Indeed it did look as if you could crush her fragile wings or injure her with the slightest of ease and she was already in a terrible condition from the late griffin. Theo was hesitant about moving her but he knew that he couldn't just leave her. "Why me" he moaned," ...ok, how about we fold it's wings, arms...things across its chest so they're out of the way. Then I'll grab it under the armpits and you grab it by the legs."
It was a bit awkward but after some discussing and scuffling they headed of towards their village with the winged girl between them. They proceeded slowly as to not risk injuring her further. Time went by in silence; it was a walk long to the village. Sharna muttered something under her breath, "What did you say?" Theo asked absently. " I said, we should've used a sling, it would've been easier" she replied. Theo looked down at the winged girl then back out in the direction of the village," But we didn't have anything handy to make a sling with at the time." " I know, I know. I was just thinking out loud to myself. She's not that heavy anyway."
Silence followed and continued until they reached the village where a crowd gathered to watch the procession of the 'strange winged being' pass by. People pointed and laughed or just stared when they saw the winged girl, they talked excitedly amongst themselves and tried to get a second glimpse of this strange child. When they arrived at the main house, the chief was already there, the elders and witch doctors stood around him, all emanating an air of importance.
Sharna and Theo stopped in front of the main house and carefully placed the winged child on the ground. The chief looked down at her with a look of interest then said, "Where is the leading huntress, Rina?" Theo stood up, "Chief, she was still at the place of our hunt, overseeing the harvesting of our spoils. It will be a good hour before her return." "Bring the winged child into the main house, there we will decide what to make of this creature."
When everyone was seated and the winged girl's wounds were being attended to, the chief spoke, "Who found this creature?" Theo answered, "It was one of the young hunters who had been gathering the arrows." The chief sat in thoughtful silence for a moment, "We must find out what this creature is, and if it is of evil kind." "Chief," one of the elders spoke forth, "I have seen some of these creatures before; it was a long time ago when I was in my youth. They lived high in the mountains beyond our reach and seldom came down, I don't know much about them but they are a humble race and of no threat to us." Another elder came forth, "Still, they may come looking for the child and may assume that we were the ones who harmed it, I say we take it back to wear it was found and leave it there." There was a lot of muttering at this, " We cannot abandon an innocent child like that." argued the first elder. "Then what do you suggest we do with it?" "Silence" the chief had barely uttered that one word, yet everyone was now very still. "The winged child will stay here, it is to young to be able to look after itself and it is against our law to abandon it now that we have saved its life and brought it into our village. Its people probably believe it dead, prey to the griffin and will not come looking for it. But if they do, they will find it safe and unharmed."
One of the nurses who had been attending the winged child entered the room. "Ah, Kikyo" said the chief, "how fairs the winged child?" "Chief, her wounds have been treated but she may have broken her ...wing, it's hard to tell. She has just recently regained conciseness, she is extremely frightened of course and is gibbering in some strange language. My women are doing their best to comfort her."

Luckily the winged girl's wound healed completely, as time went on she grew less afraid of the lion folk and even began to learn their language. She told them that her name was Cecil and that she had lived in a town on the edge of a cliff. She had been playing when the griffin had swooped down and grabbed her. She couldn't tell them where her home was and none of the winged people had come to the village looking for her.
The Lion folk cared for Cecil as one of their own. Slowly she forgot about her life before the Lion folk and even though there where physical differences, she believed herself one of them.