The Art of War by amaniblue

Lessons

Two figures sat in a windowless room whispering. The only light came from a candle glowing through the translucent door.

"An ancient lord once asked his physician, a member of a family healer, which of them was the most skilled in the art? The physician replied my eldest brother sees the spirit of sickness and removes it before it takes shape, so his name does not get out of the house. My elder brother cures sickness when it is extremely minute, so his name does not get out of the neighborhood. As for me, I puncture veins, prescribe potions, and massage skin, so from time to time my name gets out amoung the lords. Do you know understand why you must study the way of the samurai?"

The young child shakes her head negatively. The older woman sighs and says,"The healing arts and the martial arts may be a word apart in ordinary usage, but they are parallel in several senses: the less needed the better; in the sense that both invole strategy in dealing with disharmony; and in the sense that both knowledge of the problem is key to the solution."

A shuffle could be heard throughout the hut before the screen was violently thrown open. An ugle, burly man peered at the mother and daughter before he grabbed a hold on the woman's arm. "I thought I told you, you worthless mongrel, not to fill Kagome's head up with your mindless babbling," said the man. The woman bowed her head in submission to her husband, Ujio. He spat on her, then stormed out of the room where he awaited his wife. The woman used her sleve to wipe off the brown saliva from her face, then she told her daughter to get some rest.

Moments later screaming could be heard. The young girl curled herself into a ball and recited: "To overcome others' armies without fighting is the best skill. One could win withiut fighting, accomplish the most by doing the least." Until, she fell asleep