The sun was just beginning to slip below the tops of the trees lending a golden glow to the Eni encampment as it came into sight. Raife gave a couple more strokes of his powerful wings before settling into a glide, using his wings again just before he landed and slowing to nearly a hover before gently touching down. Renna's sleeping form was still cradled tenderly in his arms. She did not awake, and only stirred slightly as he laid her down, tucking his cape carefully around her. Some of the other members of the clan wandered over to curiously inspect the newcomer who had arrived with their hunting companion.
The first who came running into sight were Lily and Lyla, an identical twin pair of fair-haired females with golden colored wings. They were followed by Jasmine, who landed lightly, her emerald green wings folding neatly on her back, her black hair streaming out behind her. The twins stopped a short ways away and stood there giggling and whispering to each other in chipper tones. The next to wander over was Zephyr, who was Lyla and Lily's mate, his unruly brown hair poking in every direction as his deep red colored wings twitched with the excitement generated by the potential new addition to the clan. Being drawn by the excitement, Rosie, the Eniripsa who had begun the clan, and her mate Arkenon both came over to greet Raife and check on the Eni girl whom he had brought with him.
"Welcome back Raife dear, did your journey go well?" she stepped forward and embraced him in greeting as he nodded and told her of his flight. She listened, smiling and kissing his cheek lightly, then gazing down at Renna's sleeping form, "She's pretty, just got her wings in, not very old...you said she was alone, sounding in Cania?" Rosie's dark green wings opened and closed slowly as she wondered about the odd girl, who she was, and how she happened to be alone, as it was odd that Enis so young be left to wander solo. She slipped her arm around Arkenon's waist, her rose colored eyes rising to meet his dark steel grey ones, his small nod and expression telling her that his thoughts mirrored hers.
"Well," Arkenon said suddenly, his pale grayish blue wings flapping slightly, "enough of this standing around, we have a celebration to plan! Have Cirrus, Angel, and Ares returned yet?"
"No Arkenon," Jasmine took a step forward as she addressed him and nodded her head in a show of respect for one of their clan's two leaders, "their hunting party should return anytime though. I connected with Angel a few moments ago, she and Ares are on their way back currently," her fingers twined around the dreg claw at her neck, glittering and black, matching the ones around the necks of each Eni she was mated to and their respective mates. Jasmine and Rosie had grown up as friends in the same clan and reached maturity at close to the same time. Once the time had come for them to choose their own mates and leave their parents' clan, Rosie had mated with Arkenon, and Jasmine had left to be solo for a while, turning up almost a year later with her first mate Angel. Angel was a beautiful auburn haired Eni with white wings, and after a bit of discussion, the two couples had decided that rather than join a different clan, starting their own may be worthwhile. After a few years once Angel had taken Ares as her second mate, Jasmine met and mated with Raife, inducting him into their ranks.
Arkenon nodded then turned his attention to the twins, "And Cirrus?"
Lyla took a step forward grinning and nodded slightly before speaking, "Yes, he split from Angel and Ares to go collect a few rabbits and some carrots for roasting. He is about 20 minutes away, he should be here soon." as she finished speaking, her fingers went to the claw at her neck, a golden dreg's claw, same as worn by her sister, their mate Zephyr and her second mate, Cirrus. Arkenon had first met Zephyr when a hunting expedition had gone awry and he and the twins were passing by just in time to defend their flanks and win the fight with a nasty mob of Plains Cracklers that had ambushed them. Learning that Zephyr Lily, and Lyla were not yet clanned, Arkenon had talked it over with the others and reached a unanimous decision, and Zephyr and the twins had been inducted into the clan that same night. Lyla had met Cirrus a couple years later when she had gone to the lake to clean up one morning and found him there doing precisely the same thing, his corn silk colored hair sticking wetly to his head and his midnight blue wings stretched out to catch the early morning rays. Being quite struck by him, she had brought him back to camp and introduced him to the others who quickly welcomed him to the family.
Rosie nodded and smiled, looking around at each of the excited, enthusiastic faces, then back down at Renna, who was starting to come around, "Okay then, lets get some wood collected and stoke those campfires up into a couple of bonfires to help make our guest feel welcomed. She appears to be done recovering from the workout Raife gave her," she giggled and gave Raife a crooked grin and a wink, smacking him lightly on the back side as his face turned red and he grinned sheepishly back, " I trust you made it up to her for this morning from how sound she has been sleeping during this time."
Raife murmured a quiet "yes.." his face turning even redder and a sudden wave of arousal sweeping thru him at the memory of Renna's sweet body beneath him. He heard the twins giggle at him before they fluttered off to go collect wood for the bon fires, and Zephyr punching him lightly on the shoulder with a chuckle as he flew off close behind them to help. Raife cast another gentle look down at Renna and moved off to begin stacking the wood that was piled up to serve for the bonfires. Jasmine lingered for a moment leaning down to situate the cape covering Renna, who was stretching and opening her eyes, looking a bit confused as she tried to figure out where she was, how she had gotten there, and who the unfamiliar winged creatures before her were.
Renna came around slowly, her mind fuzzy and having trouble making heads or tails of what was going on. The first person she saw was Jasmine kneeling over her, smiling gently down at her as she lightly put her hand under Renna's shoulder to help her sit up. Renna gazed at the beautiful Eni female for a moment, her bright green wings, the chocolate colored skin and raven black hair, sitting up with the assistance of the gentle hand at her shoulder before her attention moved to the other two Eniripsa, a female and a male standing with their arms around each other, both of them greeting her with gentle smiles also. Once her eyes fully focused she spotted Raife close by, already making his way over to her from where he had been stacking the wood carefully for the bonfires. As he approached, the female Eni with deep rose colored hair and eyes and dark green wings started speaking.
"Hello little one, welcome to my clan's camp," then smiling, she held her hand our to Renna to help her to her feet, "My name is Rosie and this is my mate Arkenon," she looked up and smiled at the male Eni that had his arm around her waist, who nodded slightly and smiled at her, his pale blue wings flexing slightly and his dark grey blue eyes shining, "Ark and I are the leaders of the clan, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask."
As Rosie finished speaking Arkenon nodded slightly and spoke,