The Heartwood I whistle a happy tune

The energetic, gray hued female sidled past the bare branches of the willow to inspect the bark Ivev was gnawing at. The white wolf stopped, her ears perked to the side as Vienna spoke.

It's edible, Ivev said. Once we take it off the tree, the bark kind of softens and curls up, so you can eat it then. Willow sticks work the same way. You just chew on them. The Sunspire wolf started to clip off some of the willow, and after a few tries, it began to pry away.

The willow tree is interesting in that it sheds- just like we do in the spring, the arctic wolf continued. Her nose touched the scrappy bark. Its trunk is always sort of flaky like this, versus and aspen or a birch, which are very smooth. Many wolves have theories as to how this happened into the willow- stories and lore and such.