Andrew leaves the Wildering People with exhilaration. They had given back to him a little bit of the Pearl he had lost, and now the real Pearl must be close, so close. His journey, his searching, his striving is nearing its end.
Andrew has been to the mountains, and now the river has taken him home. But he has not come back as the same person. Andrew is changed forever, and his community knows it, and is blessed by it.