(Yupa walks in an abandoned village. He enters a building and picks up a doll, which crumbles in his hand.)

Another village is dead…

(He leaves.)

Let's go. The Jungle will soon engulf this place too.

A thousand years have passed since the great war destroyed the industrial civilization, leaving barren lands of rust and ceramic. Across these wastelands, a deadly jungle of fungi has been slowly spreading, releasing poisonous vapours and threatening the existence of the human race.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds

(Credits roll.)

(In the background, there is a scroll showing depictions of the Seven Days of Fire, the coming of the insects, the birth of the Jungle, and the prophecy of the saviour to come.)

* * *

(Nausicaä is seen flying over the jungle on Minerva, her personal aircraft. She lands and enters the jungle.)

(She comes upon a clearing.)

An ohmu trail…
Still fresh.

(She runs along the trail.)

(Gasps) An ohmu husk!
Amazing! I've never seen a complete husk before.

(She climbs up and taps it with her sword.)

(Chuckles) What a good sound.

(She stabs at the husk hard.)

It chipped the ceramic. The Valley folk will be so happy. We'll have materials to make all our tools for years.

(She climbs higher and peers into an eye.)

Incredible… I wonder if I'll be able to fly with this?

(She cuts the eye free.)

Got it! Wow, it's so light! (Laughs)

(She notices falling spores.)

The mushigoyashi are spreading their afternoon spores.

(She sits and admires the display.)

A beautiful forest of death. Without the mask, my lungs would rot in five minutes.

(She suddenly sits up.)

Who--? What can it be? My heart's pounding.

(She hears gunshots.)

That's an insect gun! Someone's being attacked by insects.

(She accidentally steps on an insect as she runs.)

Oh, sorry!

(She emerges in the eye socket of a giant horned skull.)

There!

(She looks through a small telescope.)

Such a big cloud of spores!
An ohmu! It must be the one that left its skin.

I can't let him go that way.

(She fires her rifle.)

Come on…

(She fires again.)

There! Here he comes!

(She remounts Minerva and finds the endangered person.)

Could that be…?

How magnificent!

(To Yupa) Go upwind!

Thanks!

Ohmu! Go back to the jungle! This isn't your world out here! Be a good child! He's too angry. I must calm him.

(Nausicaä drops flares in front of the ohmu, stopping it in its tracks.)

The ohmu's been blinded by the flares.

An insect-whistle…

Ohmu, awake. Back to the jungle now! There you go!

Ah! The Ohmu is returning to the jungle! With but whistle and flares, she can herd Ohmu…

* * *

(Nausicaä lands and runs into Yupa's arms.)

Master Yupa!

Nausicaä, I didn't recognize you!

It's been a year and a half! Father will be delighted!

Well, I must thank you. You've become a fine wind rider.

No. Father says I still have much to learn.

(She notices something in Yupa's pouch.)

Oh, yes. I completely forgot about this fellow.

Wow, a foxrat! I've never seen one before.

He was captured by a bird-louse; I thought he was a human baby, and I ended up having to use my gun.

So that's what angered the ohmu.

It seems he didn't inhale the poisons because he was unconscious. Ah, you'd better not put your hand out like that. He's a ferocious little beast.

(Nausicaä extends her hand towards the creature.)

Come on…

Oh, but…!

Hey, don't be afraid.
Don't be afraid.

(The foxrat bites her finger.)

There's nothing to fear. See?
You were just startled, weren't you? (Laughs)
Master Yupa, can I keep him?

Oh, uh, certainly.

Oh, thank you, thank you!

(Nausicaä runs to Yupa's ostrich-creatures.)

Kai and Kui! Remember me?

(To himself) Such a remarkable gift…

You must be tired, running all day!

How is everyone?

(Nausicaä suddenly falls silent.)

What's the matter?

Father… Father can't fly any more.

Yuri? The Jungle toxins?

Yes. The fate of all who live near the Wastelands.

I knew I should have returned earlier.

No, no. I'm glad that you're here.

Master, I want to show you something. My secret room! Don't tell anyone else; I don't want to frighten them.

(Nausicaä runs off to Minerva.)

I'll go ahead and tell them you're coming. Hurry along!

Master Yupa! Can you carry this for me? It's too hard for me to fly with it.

(Laughs) My, but she reads the wind well. Come, it's not far now.

* * *

(Two men approach Yupa as he rests by a stream.)

Oh, Master Yupa!

Welcome back!

How is everyone?

(Lauging) The water chuckles and the wind rustles.

* * *

(A child calls out as Yupa enters the village.)

Master Yupa!

Well, well, how are you?

Master Yupa.

(Villagers gather at the foot of a windmill to greet Yupa.)

It's Master Yupa!
We've been waiting so long for you.
Welcome back.

Princess! He's arrived!

Just a minute.

Master Yupa!

Uncle Mito. Working hard, I see.

I'll be expecting more of your tales of faraway places tonight!

Okay, try it now.

Looks pretty good.

Yup.

(Nausicaä descends from the roof of the windmill. Goll is admiring the ohmu eye.)

Oh, this is a real find!

We gotta set out first thing tomorrow to find the rest of it.

Toeto, right?

Yes.

Master Yupa, this is Toeto's baby, born just this year.

Let me see. Ah, she's a fine girl. She reminds me of Nausicaä when she was a baby.

Would you do us the honour of becoming her godfather?

Please bring a good wind to caress her hair.

Very well, I accept. I'll give her a good name.

Thank you! May she grow as healthy and strong as the princess!

Hm! The princess is known for her strength. But I wouldn't want the child to go playing in the Jungle as she does.

But Mito, that's how I found the ohmu husk today!

And how do you think her so-called guardian feels? I can't sleep at night!

(Laughs) Thanks to this ohmu husk, it's rather hard to call the Princess' adventures in the Jungle a complete waste.

I wish I were in a position to lecture her.

(Laugh)

* * *

(Yupa meets with Lord Yuri. Nausicaä and Baba are nearby.)

(Laughs) So, you were rescued by my little girl?

This valley is so good… Whenever I return, my soul is healed.

How fared you with your travels this time?

Hmm. It's terrible. In the south, two more countries have been swallowed up. The spread of the Blight is relentless. Yet everywhere, people would only wage war and spread hunger. Such ominous shadows… Why can't they live like the people in this valley?

This valley is protected by the Divine Breath of the Sea. The poisons of the Jungle are unable to reach the Valley.

How about it, Yupa. Why don't you settle down here? I'm no good any more, as you can see. Everyone would be so pleased…

(Laughing) It's no use. Yupa's destiny is to continue his quest forever.

Ah, my destiny…

Baba, what's this "quest?"

My, my. You didn't know, Nausicaä? Look there, at the tapestry on the wall. I can't see it any more, but he's in the top left corner.

"He will come to us clad in a raiment of blue,
Come down from the sky to a meadow of gold,

"Re-forge with the land the close bond we once knew,
And lead us to paradise, thus it is told."

Master Yupa, I thought it was just an old legend.

Baba, must you tease me so?

(Laughing) But that is your quest, isn't it?

My only desire is to understand the problem of the Jungle. Is the human race to perish as we are swallowed up by it, or can we escape that fate? That's the question I want to answer.

* * *

(That night, Nausicaä sits awake in bed.)

If only I could help Master Yupa…

(Mito rushes to Nausicaä's bedroom.)

Princess! Princess!

What is it, Mito?

Goll says there's a strange smell on the wind.

It's almost daybreak; I'll be right there.

* * *

(Mito and Nausicaä rush to join Goll on the rooftop.)

Good work.

It's a good storm, but something's not right.

(Gasp) Over there! Look, again.
It's a ship.

What's a ship doing in a borderland like this?

(Yupa joins them.)

What's going on?

Master Yupa. It's a ship.

A ship?

Here it comes!

The size of it!

It's a Tolmechian heavy transport.

Something's wrong with it. It's trying to land! Goll, set me up!

Princess, what are you doing?

I'll guide them to the coast.

They've turned round!

Ready, your Highness?

Teto!

(Nausicaä is launched into the sky.)

* * *

(Nausicaä sees insects attacking the crew of the ship.)

(Gasp)

My God! They must have entered the Jungle and killed some insects.

Pull up! You're going to crash! Pull up!!

Pull up!!

(Yupa and the others see the explosion.)

She's down.

Princess…!

It's the seaside cliff!

Let's go!

(People are rousing themselves to help the victims.)

Move it, let's go!!

(Nausicaä finds a girl in the wreckage, and notices that she's handcuffed.)

It's that girl; she's alive! (Gasp)

(She carries her away from the flames and lays her down in the grass.)

Where am I?

You're in the Valley of the Winds. You mustn't speak!

(Seeing the girl's injuries, Nausicaä realizes she is beyond help.)

I am… Lastelle of Pejité… The cargo… You must burn the cargo…!

The cargo?

Please… Destroy it…

The cargo. I understand. It's all right. Everything burned.

Thank the Lord…

Princess!

This girl…! She's a princess of the royal house of Pejité…

* * *

(A man makes an unsettling discovery.)

An insect! A Behemoth is still alive!

Dammit! It's calling others!

It's injured; it can't fly.

Bring your guns!

No, no! If we shoot it, it'll call more of its kind!

I can kill it with one shot.

You can't kill a Behemoth with one shot!

What choice do we have?

Wait. Mito, bring Minerva.

Yes, Highness.

Princess--!

Go back to the jungle. It's okay; you can fly. There's a good boy.

(Mito and Yupa bring Minerva.)

Princess.

Thank you.

(Nausicaä throws the whistle into the air, and the insect follows. She quickly mounts Minerva and catches her whistle as she flies away with the insect.)

(Cheer)

Thank God. It's always such a risk to kill even one sole insect.

* * *

(Nausicaä leads the insect away, and eventually lands. A single ohmu regards her from the horizon.)

Ohmu…

* * *