The Heartwood I whistle a happy tune

we could do different threads c:

The trees here thinned out, their trunks slender and white. Birch, and then eventually oak and willow, replaced the aspen-pine forest of which Ivev had encountered the buoyant Vienna. The female noted that her pack had some naturalists, and Ivev flicked an ear in reply.
It's hard to group naturalists and healers into categories, sometimes. Everyone has their different passions.
Their path had wound further down through the bare winter trees, towards a creek that rested at the bottom of a slope. Small icy slips covered parts of the rocks that jettisoned out of the water. When the cold ground sank into choppy mud, the wolf stopped at the base of one of the trees sticking out of the winter ground. It was particularly tall and had swooping, downward facing branches- a willow.
I hope frost hasn't damaged it- I usually collect this when its warmer and the trunk is softer, Ivev explained. But I need it now. I don't know any other uses for it besides helping with pain, but some other plants have multiple uses. The arctic creature glanced up the length of the tree, before tentatively scraping at its exterior with her canids.