Warriors of the Wind: The Return of Nausicaa

A Day in the Sea of Decay

Nausicaä couldn't sleep. Thoughts kept swirling around in her head. She couldn't stop thinking about what Asbel had said before he ran off in a hurry. Such statements weren't uncommon to her. Her people would constantly say that they would do anything for their princess, but Asbel had seemed like he had meant something else.

Something soft and furry rubbed up against her. Nausicaä smiled and petted her little fox-squirrel. "Hey, Teto. You can't sleep either, huh?" The little critter licked her cheek. "Awe, are you worried about me? You're a good friend. Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm just confused right now."

She sighed and went to the window, looking out at her sleeping kingdom. She needed to talk to someone that could ease her mind. Normally she would speak to Obaba or Lord Yupa, when he was around. They would usually be able to help her with anything. But it was late, and Obaba was old and needed her sleep, and Lord Yupa had just gotten back from being away for two years, he deserved some time to relax. She could talk to them in the morning, but in the meantime, she was losing a night's worth of sleep.

Deciding that if she wasn't going to be able to get to sleep, she decided to do something useful and headed to her secret lab. The room was filled with the toxic jungle's beautiful plant life, which would otherwise be poisonous to her had she not found a way to purify them. Strangely enough, all it had taken was clean water and soil. This had been a major discovery. After the earth had been polluted by the Seven Days of Fire, all the plant life that had grown had absorbed the toxins in the soil, which produced the toxic spores that were fatal to all but the insects that had evolved to be able to breathe in the poison.

"Someday, everyone will be able to appreciate your beauty without worrying about being poisoned." She said to the plants in the room. She gently touched one of the flowers' soft petals. "Too bad I won't live to see the day, but at least I'll see the start of it."

She thought back to the purified canyon under the toxic forest. She had discovered multiple canyons just like it. The planet was slowly but surely purifying itself. It would take 1,000 years, but it would be done.

"As long as no one interferes." She whispered.

There have been several attempts made by humanity to 'cleanse' the planet by burning the toxic jungle. Nausicaä knew that this was wrong, as well as dangerous. It would do more harm to the earth than good. The Ohmu knew this as well. Any attempts to harm the toxic jungle would send them into a fit of rage that caused them to destroy the jungle's threat. Then the toxic spores would spread over the area they destroyed. So really, any of attempts people made to purify the planet was doing nothing more than making the process take longer.

"Teto, no!" Nausicaä cried, as the little fox-squirrel began pawing at one of the plants, sending nontoxic spores flying around the room. She went over to him and picked him up, scratching behind the fox-squirrel's ears. "Don't do that."

Teto just purred and crawled up onto her shoulder, rubbing against her cheek. Nausicaä chuckled, unable to stay angry at her pet. He was always curious about the plants since he had never been around them when in the wild, lest he be poisoned.

"Maybe I could make a little mask for you." said the princess. "Then you could come with me when I go into the toxic forest." She looked out the window again and smiled. "I think I'll ask Asbel to come with me tomorrow."

Little did she know, Asbel would be sleeping in late tomorrow, for he too was unable to sleep.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Groaning in frustration, the Pejite prince rolled over, trying to get more comfortable. Well, it wasn't really the comfort that was the problem, he was just plain restless at the moment. He also kept muttering to himself how stupid he had been for saying what he had said to Nausicaä earlier.