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Word Count: 344
Melee learned something new every day. Today, her intention was to learn more about climbing trees. This was important to learn before the seasons changed for several reasons. One reason was that the leaves would fall in the upcoming season (hence, she thought, its name of "Fall"). Some limbs might also become more brittle and eventually they would be weighed down by snow. Since it was a mountain, this area would get colder even faster. So she had set out today with a mission: to teach herself to climb a tree with the agility of a squirrel. With only one useful hand, this was going to be quite the task. She refused to be disheartened or hampered by her disability, though. Melee Soul would learn to climb trees or die trying!
Her first few attempts had not gone well. The Mui had fallen unceremoniously on her rump, jolting her joints and knocking her breath out. She was lucky that she had ended up on her rump and not her head, though. Melee's bi-toned gaze appraised the selected tree again, trying to decide how she might climb its heights. Assessing the nearest branches for the probability that she would reach them without falling. With a little grumbled growl to herself, the girl leaped at the tree. Melee dug the claws from her good hand and her hindpaws into the tree's bark. It left marks against the grain, forever marring the face of the tree with her claws' impressions.
Melee tucked her deformed hand behind her back so that she didn't even consider it slightly useful toward achieving her goal. Every time she had tried to rely on her deformed hand at all, she had ended up falling. This time, she had to act like the limb was gone entirely. Raising a hindleg, she managed to press her claws in again. She pushed up against the bark, lifting herself closer to the branch. Melee swayed for a moment, took a deep breath and kept on going. This time, she would reach the top.