The male returned Ragnar’s bark in greeting with one of his own, and then gradually, the injured Viking watched, apprehensive, as the other male boldly closed the gap between them, leaving when he did come to a halt, plenty of distance between them but eliminated the shouting distance they had previously been at. Weight shifted off of his injured leg, discreetly pressing his side against a thick tree trunk to give the appearance of just touching it, when in reality, he was leaning most of his weight against it. He did not need the tree to help him stand as much as he needed it to keep off the weight to avoid further damage to the torn flesh beneath the salve Thistle had recently covered it with. An introduction was made, straight to the point, and Ragnar tucked away the stranger’s name knowing that it would probably be some time before he tried to pronounce it knowing full well that his heavy accent would likely mess it up. As it was, Ragnar rarely addressed by names - just as he had a tendency to never give his name at the borders when greeting a stranger at them. Usually, if they learned of his name it was from another pack mate, or Pump who usually took it upon herself to introduce the scarred Warden with her own name.
His words had piqued the Viking’s curiosity however, the past tense use of the word “came” apart of the Vale. The pack had been enigmatic at best, Ragnar had passed it several times on his trips up North, had even caused one of their wolves to lose the goat she had been hunting (goats were sacred to Thor and henceforth, Ragnar himself) but he had never taken it upon himself to investigate them further. The past tense meant one of two things: either the wolf before him was a deserter/exiled, or something had happened to their pack. Regardless of the reason, Ragnar did not fail to pick up on the fact that there was likely an opportunity here in waiting.
Odinn had not forsaken him, after all.