Ok, I'm getting my damn lazy butt in gear and writing this chapter before I go off and get distracted by a) all those anime DVD's I checked out today (yeay!) b) reading more of the fan fics that I like that were all updated in the past two days (and boy there are a lot!) or c) something shiny (what? I like the shiny!). sorry bout the delay, but… actually I don't have any really good excuse other than I came to a detail road block. I know where I wanna go, it's just that annoying matter of getting there. Sadly, I'm too much of a procrastinator to sit down and figure that out, so here's what I got for now, and I really hope it turns out alright. And now I'm rambling again. I do that a lot don't I? hmmm… but thanks to all you reviewers out there! You know who you are! Yah, you! Its you people who help me get the motivation to get writing, well, that and my recently adopted muse who keeps threatening me with a baseball bat if I start to put it off for too long…
Kate (my muse): yah, and you better get started with this one before I have to use it! –shakes metal baseball bat at me evilly-
Me: eep! OO ok, better get started then!
Disclaimer: If I told you that I actually owned Nausicaä and you actually believed me, you should probably take a small trip the place where the walls are padded and all the people where white (aka mental institute…)
Last chapter: Nausicaä confronts her own fears as well as the ohmu, which allow her to bring the people of the valley to the place under the Toxic Jungle in two weeks (OO… Wow… it's amazing how short a summery I can get for a three page chapter!).
Chapter 5: frightening discovery…
'I can see the Valley now. I'll be there quite soon now.' Nausicaä thought as she was flying over the Acid Lake on her glider, returning home from the meeting she had held with the Ohmu. 'This is the day I tell the people of the Valley about the plans. It has to be if I want to have everyone ready to leave in two weeks. It will be hard leaving home, but as it was once said, "The trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more (1)." I suppose that's true. If I don't take this risk, all the people who live here could die. I can only hope that this risk won't be taken in vain.' She thought silently as she landed her glider by the hanger that had been set out on an open field for her. Asbel was waiting for her not too far off, and when he saw the glider land he ran over to great her (2).
"Nausicaä! You're back!" he shouted as he picked her up in his arms and spun her around joyfully. Once he finally set her down he gave her caring kiss on the lips, which she returned with equal care. Once the kiss was broken what seemed like two minutes later though it had only been a few seconds, their eyes locked as Asbel continued to embrace her, his arms laid gently around her waist. "Nausicaä, I was so worried about you! I noticed that you had left your gun here and was so worried that an insect would attack you then—" he was cut off by one of Nausicaä's fingers being placed gently on his lips to stop his words.
"Asbel, you didn't need to worry. I just left the gun so that I could make sure that I came in as peaceful of a manner as possible. I didn't want to risk anything during this meeting. It meant far too much to me to just jeopardize it over something as simple as that. Besides, I made sure to land in the middle of the ohmu's nest so that few, if any of the other insects would attack. It's alright, Asbel, I'm fine." She said, lowering her hand and holding him close again, reminding him of her solid presence there.
"You're right. I shouldn't have worried. I know you can take care of yourself." He said, burring his face in her hair for a moment before continuing, "So how did it go? Are the ohmu willing to let us land there with our airships?"
"Yes, Asbel. They have allowed us safe passage, and have also given their permission for us to stay there, as long as we do not do anything that may cause harm or bring any contaminates into the world down there. They'll be safe, Asbel! Both the people of Pejitei and the people of the valley. Won't it be wonderful? So many lives will be saved!" She said, eyes glittering in joy.
"That's wonderful, Nausicaä." Asbel said, smiling down at her, taking in her passion for the safety of all of their people, the joy of the promise alight in her chocolate brown eyes as her hair was tossed by the gentle wind. "I'm glad that the people will be able to live peacefully now." 'And…' he added to himself, 'I'm glad you are happy again.'
"Let's go tell Obaba and the others the good news!" Nausicaä said, releasing her hold on him and taking his hand instead as she ran excitedly down the hill and towards the castle.
-------gaze upon my pretty scene divider---------
It was about an hour later and Obaba, Lord Yupa, and Amiko had all been filled in on the latest developments of the plans. The group was now residing in the stone dining room having a late lunch. They had postponed it until the queen's arrival.
"So it is decided. Everyone shall be told today." Obaba said, nodding in intense understanding, almost as if she had known it would be so for weeks on end. Nausicaä was always impressed by the infinite wisdom of the old blind woman.
"yes. In about two hours. That should be enough time for me to clear the path to it enough for them all to get by without too much trouble. Amiko, would you please work with Obaba and Lord Yupa to figure out the shifts that we should all take as well as how many people we should bring in at a time?" Nausicaä asked, turning to Asbel's mother for affirmation.
"Yes, of course."
"Thank you Amiko. And Asbel, would you please help me clean the place up? Not only is it very dusty, but as you probably noticed it is not short of spare, long forgotten supplies, armor and more things than I think I can handle. It would be great if you could help me move some of the things out of the way."
"Of course, Nausicaä. I'd be glad to help." Asbel offered as she smiled thankfully, trying to hide her weariness.
--------this is yet another scene divider----------
Two hours of sweeping, moping, a bit of dusting, lots of repositioning of old rusty suits of armor, and a few games of hide and go seek (mixed in with a game or two of hide and go glomp) later, the passage way leading down to the garden harboring the plants from the Jungle was now clear enough to let relatively large groups in at once, but probably wouldn't fit more than fifteen or sixteen people at a time due to the large drop off at the side and the fact that the stair well curved around quite a bit. None the less, it looked considerably better now that some of the suits of armor were polished up and standing decoratively along the lower levels, much like a miniature army if not for the suits they had given up on and just shoved to the back corners. Nausicaä wiped her hands of pointedly on her old, faded yellow dress she had found to work in and said, "Ok, I think that's about as good as it's gunna get, so lets get changed and meet up with Amiko and the others to figure out what the plan is. Then let's just cross our fingers and pray that things go right and we can start getting ready for the move as soon as we can."
"Right." Asbel said, following Nausicaä's retreating form up the stairs to get ready for the one event that the whole plan hung in the balance of. If the people didn't approve of the decision to move and they were out voted, there was a very good chance that they would end up staying in the valley, which could mean death for many, many people.
------- you should know what this is by now-------
About twenty minutes later Nausicaä and Asbel walked out of the meeting room. it had been decided that the shifts would include Nausicaä each time. The first group of people would include Lord Yupa and Amiko, and would include an mix of six Pejitei people and seven people from the Valley of the Wind. They would use this grouping until everyone had been shown the room. The second group would be headed by Lord Yupa and Amiko once again. The third group would have Asbel and Obaba, and they would stay for the fourth group as well. The next two shifts would be occupied by Asbel and Lord Yupa, then by Obaba and Amiko. By then they would only have about two or three groups left, and for these they decided to have Lord Yupa and Amiko. Because they figured this would take quite some time to do, they decided to have a fifteen minute break between every other shift, not only to allow them to change posts, but also to give Nausicaä some down time as she would be there doing most of the talking for each group, which was by no means an easy task (a/n: I know that's a horrible run on, but get over it). It was finally time to start.
Asbel rounded up the first group of people in a few minutes. Some of them had been working in the fields, but left without complaint when they were told that Queen Nausicaä requested there presence in the castle. From there he led the group into Nausicaä's room where the entrance to the pathway was located. He paused for a moment, taking in the looks of confusion before he addressed them.
"Nausicaä has come up with an idea that may save everyone here and those still working in the fields from the Jungle's toxins, but I am warning you now you may have a hard time believing it. You must all trust her." he said, letting the words sink in a moment before pressing on the wall where the door was hidden. The door replied by swinging silently inward (they had had to oil the hinges during the clean up because it was starting to become hard to open), "follow me." Asbel commanded, walking down the torch-lit hallway.
(1): that is a quote by Erica Jong. No, I don't know who that is, but I have this little book of quotes that I've gone through about a million times cuz it's got good quotes that I like to use. I thought that this quote really applied to the situation, so I decided to use it. I am not philosophical enough to come up with that on my own, so this is basically to slap a disclaimer sticker on that so I don't get sued… and I'm rambling again aren't I?
(2): this scene that is coming up was requested! I am obliged to keep said request, so here it is! (And for all you out there who think this relationship is moving too fast, remember that they have been going out for two years! So it's not that shocking. Please remember that! I don't mind flames, but I just don't want em for something that is perfectly justifiable.)
A/N: END! No, not the end of the fic, just the end of the chappie. I leave you with a not-so-angsty cliffie. Ya like? I would have continued, had my muse not decided to go off for a cookie break about ten minutes after this story got started and won't help me get any further than I am now. I'll try to update again in a few days. Sorry! Please don't let my laziness keep you from reviewing! In fact, your reviews are what keep me from getting too lazy! They help! They really honestly do!
