He had... never been embraced before. His mother had never embraced him and certainly never his siblings. It was calming and he for a moment, he forgot all about any pain he had felt and it felt as if he no longer had any reason to worry. For a moment, he had to wonder if this is what others had a chance to feel regularly; had he been missing out all this time? It made him sway with excitement and uncertainty, an unusual combination of emotions that both twisted his gut but warmed his cheeks. In fact, he almost missed it when he had to pull away to speak, rebalancing himself across three paws in order to save his other. They had a long journey ahead of them. He didn't want to be the reason for them to arrive any later than they had to.

"You're brave, Innana. I would have been afraid of the crags!" He smiled, his tail waving behind him, and he hoped it'd make her feel less guilty about her journey. After all, she really had been brave, at least to Abel. He'd never known another wolf to live alone for so long! He imagined her facing all kinds of adversities and yet, she stood before him now, thin but otherwise just as she should be. She had nothing to be guilty about - only proud, really.

His cheeks were warm again when she stared up at him, and he looked away nervously before he tried to meet her eyes again. He'd never been called a hero. He never even imagined being called a hero and yet, it somehow seemed so much more important coming from her. It made him happy and nervous all at the same time but he did his best to hide it. Instead, he simply grinned and attempted to step back slightly so that she would not feel the rapid beating of his heart. It pounded into his chest like a savage flock of birds attempting to escape. He was full of feathers. He just hoped she wouldn't notice.

"Well, you know, Sif really misses you. We all miss you in Glorall! So I had to do something about it. Adults are so lazy." He shook his head, feigning disappointment as he flashed her a playful grin of mischief. They'd all tried to find her but, she was right, winter had been hard, and the thaw in spring had done too good of a job when it came to washing scents away.

As for her next question, he stepped back and turned towards the east. He followed the sun, trailing it down towards where Glorall would be. He had learnt that much, at least, about tracking. It made him grin to be able to do that much at least, and it helped him ignore the ache that continued to press its fingers into his ankle. "I can get us home but it might take a while - it's quite a distance," he sighed a little at the prospect of how far the journey was, and yet, he was unsure if he wanted to start returning straight away or not. It seemed strange to just arrive and rush her, right?

He turned back to her then with a tilted head, his brows furrowed slightly. "Are you hungry? We can always rest a bit and eat before we begin going back. You might miss this place, you know." Really, he didn't mind the idea of spending some time with her. Of course, he mostly wanted to rest his leg and yet, he was too proud to admit that. He'd just find another way to do so...while benefitting his friend, of course.