JOBI the Moon Fox -The Neverending Story- Chapter 4

JOBI the Moon Fox
-The Neverending Story-
Chapter 4


「JOBI，你先在這裡休息一下吧。讓我為你找出身體出現異常的原因。」


目送班長他們出發去找 SORA 之後，櫻老大帶我走進一個狹窄的櫻花樹洞，洞內竟然是一座豁然開朗的大屋。


要是平常來玩的話，我大概早已興奮得雙眼發光了。可是此刻的境況實在令人難以安心。


那個叫 VICTOR 的魔法師，身上散發出一股陰沉的氣息。讓我覺得......


「砵......！」


讓我覺得很臭......嗯？


「噓……！你在這個時候放什麼屁啦？蠢材青太！」


「可……可是人家就是忍不住嘛…..」


我聽見有人躲在屋子後面談話。


這個時候，櫻老大隨手一揮，一堆花瓣就像鳥兒般衝向聲音傳出的方向，並把聲音的主人「運送」到我們面前。


原來是一紅一藍的兩隻小狐狸。他們的頸上都掛著一個小鈴鐺。那是幼稚園部「容易走失的學生」的記認。


「小朋友，你們為何會來到這裡呢？」櫻老大友善地向兩隻小狐狸問道。


「你......你好，我叫青太。他是我弟弟赤吉......我們是來找 SORA 哥哥的，可是一不小心就走進來了......」藍色小狐狸青太很有禮貌地向我們解釋。


「SORA 哥時常都會來幼稚園部找我們玩的，可是他自新學期開學之後都沒有出現過了，你們兩個知道他在哪嗎？」紅色小狐狸赤吉倒是比較不客氣。


為了稍為安撫這對兄弟的情緒，我本打算分點糖果給他們吃，卻發現隨身帶著的糖果瓶竟然空空如也。


難道是在森林弄丟了嗎？可是糖果瓶的蓋子又沒有打開過。實在十分奇怪......


這個時候，櫻老大好像察覺到什麼。


「青太，赤吉。你們都是好孩子。SORA 哥哥只是去了探險。他過幾天就會回來了。所以你們現在就先回宿舍去吧。免得讓大家擔心。好嗎？」櫻老大摸摸兩兄弟的頭頂，然後把幾片花瓣變成糖果送給他們，好讓他們安心回去。


兩兄弟離開之後，櫻老大隨即向我解釋情況。


「JOBI，我大概知道發生什麼事了。那個叫 VICTOR 的魔法師擁有吸收狐狸生命能量的能力。現在的 SORA 大概就是因為失去了大部份生命能量，所以除了與他牽絆最深的人之外，其他人都會暫時失去對他的連繫與記憶。而你的糖果應該也是因為儲存了生命能量，所以才會被 VICTOR 製造出來的黑色球體一併吸走。」櫻老大拿起我的糖果瓶，細心查看它的狀況。


「那......為何他要這樣做啊？」我不忿又無奈地追問道。


櫻老大只是搖搖頭。


「JOBI，現在更讓人擔心的是你的身體。雖然你戴著的圍巾能夠助你減慢生命能量流失。可是如果我們不快點想辦法阻止這個情況的話......你......」櫻老大欲言又止。


「我......?」


「你將會逐漸變得透明，甚至完全消失。」


對於突如其來的惡耗，我只能夠呆呆的站著，任由淚水從眼眶不斷湧出。


-JOBI


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JOBI the Moon Fox
-The Neverending Story-
Chapter 4


"JOBI, you can rest here first. Let me find out what’s wrong with you."


After sending MONITOR and the other guys off to save SORA, Sir Cherry Blossom led me into the narrow cherry blossom tree hole. Surprisingly, the insides of the hole was a big spacious house.


If I’m here to play on any other days, my eyes would have lit up with excitement. But, the current situation is just too worrying.


The magician called Victor has a very dark and heavy aura, it made me feel…


"Pfff…!"


Made me feel very smelly…, huh?


"Shh…! Why would you fart at this moment? Stupid AOTA!"


"But…but I just can’t hold it in…"


I heard someone talking behind the house.
At this moment, Sir Cherry Blossom waved his hand and sent a stream of petals towards the voices’ direction, and transported the owners of the voices to us.


Turns out, it’s two foxes, one red, and one blue. Each one of them has a bell hanging from their neck. That’s a sign that they're the ‘easy-to-get-lost students’ in the kindergarten.


"Kids, why are you here?" Sir Cherry Blossom asked them with a friendly tone.


"H..hello, I am Aota. This is my younger brother, Aka… We’re here to look for brother SORA, but we accidentally came in here…" The blue little fox Aota politely explained to us.


"Brother SORA would sometimes come over to the kindergarten and play with us, but he hasn't appeared since the new semester. Do you two know where he is?" The red little fox AKA asked straightforwardly.


For the sake of reassuring the twins, I originally wanted to give them some candies. But then, I discovered that the candy jar I always have with me is completely empty.


Did I lose them in the forest? But this is really strange, I’ve never opened the jar…


At this moment, Sir Cherry Blossom noticed something.


"AOTA, AKA. You are both good kids. Your brother SORA just went for an adventure. He will come back in a few days. Just go back to your dorms for now, so your teachers won’t be worried about you, okay?" Sir Cherry Blossom patted the top of the twins’ heads, and then gave them a few candies that were transformed from cherry blossom petals, so they’ll go back reassured.


After the twins left, Sir Cherry Blossom explained the situation to me.


"JOBI, I think I know what happened. The magician named VICTOR has the power to absorb foxes’ life essence. The current SORA must have lost most of his life essence, that’s why apart from people who are the closest to him, everyone else would lose their memories of him. And mostly likely because your candies contained some life essence, they were taken away by the dark matter sphere created by VICTOR along with SORA’s life essence." Sir Cherry Blossom picked up my candy jar, and inspected it’s condition closely.


"But... Why would he do that?" I asked, feeling a bit frustrated and helpless.


Sir Cherry Blossom just shook his head.


"JOBI, a more worrying matter now is your health. Although the scarf that you are wearing can slow down the loss of your life essence, if we don’t think of a way to stop what’s happening quick… you…" Sir Cherry Blossom hesitated.


"I…? "


"You'll fade away, and you might even vanish completely."


Facing the sudden bad news, I can only stand there stunned with helpless tears streaming down my face.


- JOBI

JOBI the Moon Fox -The Neverending Story- Chapter 3

JOBI the Moon Fox
-The Neverending Story-
Chapter 3


「JOBI，我感覺到你的生命能量正在減弱。你先戴起這個，它可以讓你輕鬆一點。你可以從頭開始把事情的經過告訴大家嗎？」


櫻老大拿出一條顏色花巧的圍巾套在 JOBI 頸上之後，JOBI 的身體頓時就變得沒那麼透明了。他深呼吸了一口氣，然後開始訴說自己的遭遇......


「開學前幾天，我跟 SORA 在宿舍附近的森林遊玩時，遇上了一隻從未見過的黑色狐狸。他穿著一件十分破舊的黑色披肩，額頭上有個紅色的古怪的標記，而且擁有一雙彷彿會把人攝進去的深紅色的眼睛，外表十分嚇人......」JOBI 捏緊拳頭，臉上出現了恐懼的表情。


「那......果然是 VICTOR！他是我在以前星球居住時的同族，而且已經被逐出族群很久了。為什麼現在竟然會在這裡出現......?」


LEILA 從剛才開始神色就變得十分凝重，她那緊張的語氣跟初來到地球的時候一樣。足以讓我感受到事件的嚴重性。


「黑色狐狸想知道我們的學校在哪裡，但 SORA 覺得他不懷好意，所以不肯說出來。怎料......他一怒之下，突然從手中變出一個巨型的黑色球體，一下子就把 SORA 吸了過去......！我本想立刻拉住 SORA ，可是他察覺到我的身體出了異樣就立刻把我推開，叫我快點逃走.......！我看見被吸進去的 SORA 彷彿失去了力量似的，身體變得比平常更加透明，而且不消一會就......失去了意識......嗚！我.....我真是太沒用了！我救不了 SORA！櫻老大，求求你想想辦法！」愈說愈心痛的 JOBI 終於哭了起來。


我十分明白 JOBI 此刻的感受。我也曾經因為不夠強大而無法保護自己最喜歡的人，甚至眼睜睜看著他被趕走。對於那段無法彌補的過去，我到現在仍然感到十分自責。


「JOBI，不用擔心，我會去救 SORA 回來的。」我上前拍了一下 JOBI 的肩膊，腦中開始擬定各種作戰方案。


「班長，我跟你一起去。」LEILA 向我點頭示意，她的眼神十分堅決。


這個時候，櫻老大舉高手，吸引來兩片在空中飛舞的櫻花瓣。櫻花瓣繞過他的身體，隨即化身成一隻粉紅色與一隻粉藍色的小狐狸。


「他們是 LINUS 和 LULU，算是我的分身。你們一起去找那個魔法師吧。這兩隻小傢伙會幫到你們的。」櫻老大冷靜的語氣讓我增添了安全感。


「嗯，謝謝你。那 JOBI 就拜託你照顧了。」跟櫻老大道別之後，我們立即往森林出發。


我暗地跟自己作出承諾，這次我無論如何也一定要保護大家。


-班長

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JOBI the Moon Fox
-The Neverending Story-
Chapter 3



"JOBI, I can sense your life essence dwindling. Put this on for the time being, it will help a little. Can you tell us what’s going on? From the very beginning."


Immediately after Sir Cherry Blossom took out a colourful scarf and wrapped it around JOBI’s neck, JOBI’s body regained some opacity. He took a deep breath and started telling his story…


"A few days before the start of the semester, while I was playing with SORA in the woods near the dormitories, we met a black fox we didn’t know. He was wearing a black tattered shawl, had a strange red symbol on his forehead, and a set of penetrating deep red eyes. He looked terrifying…" JOBI clenched his fists, a horrified expression on his face.


"That…is VICTOR. He’s from my home planet. He’s already been kicked out of the clan for a very long time. Why is he here now?"


LEILA’s expression has been solemn since earlier, her anxious tone is just like when she first arrived on Earth. That was enough to drive home the severity of the situation.


"The black fox asked us for our school’s location, but SORA sensed that he had bad intentions and refused to answer him. I didn’t expect…In a fit of anger, he produced a giant dark matter sphere, and in an instant, SORA was sucked in…! I wanted to hold onto him but he noticed that something was happening to my body, so he pushed me away and told me to run…! It seems that SORA was losing energy while being sucked in, his normally translucent body became almost transparent. Soon, he even lost consciousness…sobs…I’m so useless! I couldn’t save SORA! Sir Cherry Blossom, I’m beg you to think of a way to save him!" JOBI got more upset as he tells his story and finally started crying.


I understand how JOBI feels. I was also once unable to protect the ones I love because I was not strong enough, and he got chased away. I still feel very guilty for the irreparable past.


"JOBI, don't worry, I will save SORA." I patted JOBI on the shoulders, and started planning ways to save SORA.


"MONITOR, I’ll go with you." LEILA nodded towards me, her eyes, determined.


At this moment, Sir Cherry Blossom raised his arms, and sent two cherry blossom petals flying towards us. The petals twirled around him and become a small pink fox and a small blue fox.


"They are LINUS and LULU. You can think of them as my doubles. Go with them and look for the magician. They can help you." Sir Cherry Blossom’s calm tone gave me some reassurance.


"Thank you. Please take good care of JOBI." After biding Sir Cherry Blossom goodbye, we immediately went to the forest to save SORA.


I secretly made a promise to myself, I’ll keep everyone safe no matter what this time.


- MONITOR

JOBI the Moon Fox -The Neverending Story- Chapter 2

JOBI the Moon Fox

-The Neverending Story-

Chapter 2

到 JOBI 清醒過來，已經是隔天的事情了。

「SORA！」

他一睜開眼，又再次喊出這個陌生的名字。可是不只得我絲毫沒有對 SORA 的記憶，我問過整個小學部的老師與學生，也沒有人認識 SORA。

「JOBI，發生什麼事了？你冷靜告訴我，SORA 究竟是誰？」我把手掌放在 JOBI 的頭上，感覺到他的體溫總算回復正常，可是身體卻仍然呈半透明狀態。

「你......你們怎可能把 SORA 忘記的？他可是跟我們一起生活了好幾年的同學啊！」JOBI 再次哽咽。

雖然我仍然毫無頭緒，可是從 JOBI 的眼神來看，我肯定他沒有說謊。

「難道是發生了一些事情，讓我們失去了對 SORA 的記憶......？」一直從旁觀察的 LEILA 終於開口。她的神情看起來十分凝重。

「時間無多了，我要去找櫻老大......」JOBI 從床上一躍而下，衝出了保健室。

學校後山的櫻花樹，今年也生長得十分茂密。只是現在大家都沒心情細心欣賞了。

「櫻老大，請你現身吧！SORA 的情況十分危險啊！」JOBI 向著櫻花樹大喊，甚至把鳥兒都嚇跑了。

這個時候，一片隱隱發亮的櫻花瓣飄到我們面前，捲起一陣微風。微風又把附近的花瓣都聚集起來。數百塊花瓣像砌圖般拼合成一隻粉紅色的發光狐狸，實在讓我大開眼界。

「JOBI，SORA 怎麼了？我完全感覺不到跟他的連繫。」

粉紅色狐狸慢慢睜開眼睛，並向 JOBI 問道。

「櫻老大，SORA 被一個不知道從哪裡來的魔法師給捉住。如果我們還不盡快去救他，他......很快就會完全消失啊！」

JOBI 的說話讓大家都愣住了。

「等等！JOBI，你說......魔法師？」LEILA 面色一沉。我看見她的手在微微顫動，呼吸也開始急促起來。

事情逐漸向著難以預測的方向發展.......

-班長

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JOBI the Moon Fox
-The Neverending Story-
Chapter 2


When JOBI woke up, it was already another day. 

"SORA!"

He yelled out the unfamiliar name again when he open his eyes. But it’s not just me. I’ve asked all the teachers and students in the entire primary school, no one knows SORA.

"JOBI, what happened? Calm down and tell me, who is SORA?" I put my palm on his forehead, and felt that his body temperature had went back to normal. But his body is still translucent.

"How... how can you guys forget SORA? We’ve been in school with him for years!" JOBI started sobbing again.

Although I’m still confused about what’s happening, I’m sure JOBI is telling the truth because he looks so sincere.

"What if something happened, and made all of us lose our memories of SORA…?" LEILA, who has been watching us the whole time, finally said. She looks very serious.

"There's not much time left, I have to find Sir Cherry Blossom…" JOBI jumped off the bed, and rushed out of the health room.

The cherry blossom tree on the mountain is flourishing this year as well, but, right now, no one has the spirit to appreciate its beauty.

"Sir Cherry Blossom, will you please come out? SORA is in a terrible state!" JOBI cried out loud at the tree, so loud that he even scared the birds away. 

Then, a glowing petal floated down, and all the petals nearby gathered around it with a gentle breeze, together they formed a luminous pink fox. I couldn’t stop looking at the magical transformation.

"JOBI, how’s SORA? I can’t feel my connection with him."

The pink fox asked JOBI while slowly opening his eyes.

"Sir Cherry Blossom, SORA was caught by an unknown magician. If we don’t save him now, he’ll…disappear completely!"

Everyone was shocked by JOBI’s words. 

"Wait a minute! JOBI, did you just say,,, a magician?" LEILA’s face fell. Her hands started trembling lightly and her breath quickened.

Things are becoming really unpredictable…

- MONITOR

JOBI the Moon Fox -The Neverending Story- Chapter 1

JOBI the Moon Fox

-The Neverending Story-
Chapter 1

已經開學幾天了，JOBI 還是沒有出現。

記得寒假的時候，他曾經找過我去玩，可是當時我因為想要專心準備雷神考試所以推卻了。到我回過神來就已經到了開學日。

我想 JOBI 這傢伙可能又玩到不知時日了吧？他已經不是第一次如此冒失了。有次暑假之後，他仍然維持著悠閒的生活一直到開學第十天，才因為找不到同學去玩而驚覺假期早已完結......

唉，放學後到宿舍去找找他好了。

還有一件讓我感到奇怪的事情，就是 JOBI 的座位旁邊出現了一個空著的位子。

自開學以來，我們班房一直沒有多餘的桌子。現在卻突然多出了一個座位，而且那個座位感覺就像一直有人使用似的。

正當我不斷整理思緒卻還是找不到答案的時候，突然「嘭」的一聲，班房門被大力推開。

「嗄！嗄！班長.......！不......不好了！」

出現在大家面前的正正就是缺席幾天的 JOBI。氣喘如牛的他看起來十分虛弱，就像快要昏倒似的。

而且，他的身體竟然變成了半透明......?

「發生了什麼事？JOBI，振作啊！」我連忙上前扶起他，隨即感覺到他的身體正在發熱。

「SORA......快去救 SORA......！」JOBI 說出一個陌生的名字。

「誰是 SORA......?」我完全沒有頭緒。其他同學也一樣不解地互相對望。

「就......就是坐在我旁邊的 SORA 啊！你們都把他忘記了嗎......？」JOBI 焦急得哭了起來。

原來那個空出來的位子，是屬於一位叫 SORA 的同學嗎？可是為什麼竟然沒有同學認識他？

「找.....櫻老大......」JOBI 用盡最後一口氣說出這句說話之後就昏了過去。

這個時候，一陣不應該在春天吹起的寒風湧進班房。捲起了我不詳的預感......

-班長

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JOBI the Moon Fox
-The Neverending Story-
Chapter 1

School has already started for a few days but JOBI is still nowhere to be seen.

JOBI asked me to play during the winter holidays, but I refused him because I had to focus on preparing for the God of Thunder Examination. New thing I know, it’s already the first day of School.

I guess Jobi must have been having so much fun that he lost track of time. It’s not the first time he has been so reckless. One summer, he didn’t even know school had started, and had been fooling around until the tenth school day, only noticing when he couldn’t find anyone to play with him.

Oh well, I’ll look for him in the dormitories after school. 

Apart from this, there’s one strange thing that has been bothering me. An empty seat has appeared next to JOBI’s seat.

Since school started, our classroom didn’t have any extra desks. But now, an extra seat has suddenly appeared, and on top of that, I feel like it belongs to someone.

When I was trying to figure this out, the classroom door swung wide open with a loud bang.

"Oh! Oh! MONITOR…! Oh…Oh no!"

The intruder that appeared in front of everyone was JOBI, the guy who was absent from school these few days. The out of breath fox looked very weak, like he was about to faint.

JOBI, who missed school the last days, suddenly appeared in front of everyone, panting, looking very weak and was about to faint.

And, his body has become translucent…?

"What happened? JOBI, stay strong!" I hurried over to help him, and immediately could feel that he’s heating up. 

"SORA... Go and save SORA… !" A foreign name came out of JOBI’s mouth.

"Who's SORA…?" I have completely no idea who this person is, and the other classmates were also looking at each other like they don’t have a clue. 

"Just… just the SORA sitting next to me! Have you guys completely forgotten about him?" JOBI burst into tears.

So, the empty seat belongs to a classmate named SORA? But then, why doesn’t anyone know him?

"Find...Sir Cherry Blossom…" JOBI used his last strength to instruct us before he fainted. 

At this moment, a gust of chilled air that shouldn’t have been there in Spring rushed into the classroom. It triggered a really bad feeling…

- MONITOR

JOBI the Moon Fox : side story - HANDS the Detective Fox

JOBI the Moon Fox : side story
HANDS the Detective Fox


真是陰晴不定的一天。


滿以為上宗案子完滿解決，終於可以好好休息的我，從酒吧回家睡不夠三小時，就被警長的電話吵醒。


「HANDS，來警局一趟。」警長丟下一句說話就掛斷電話。聽見他那無奈的語氣，我感到頭上的毛髮一根根豎起，這通常是麻煩事情即將發生的預感。


我喜歡熱鬧的地方，人多會讓我比較有安全感，但不包括警局。


醉酒鬧事，打架，傷人，盜竊......被帶到警局的沒有一隻是好狐狸。


然而，那位坐在報案室門口的女仕卻令我神魂癲倒。


「小姐，發生什麼事了嗎？我是個私家偵探，或者能夠幫到你。」我從隨身攜帶的瓶子裡拿出一顆糖果遞給那位女仕。那是我自我介紹時用作破冰的甜味名片。


「你這小子在拉什麼生意？她是我的女兒啊！」怎料警長突然從報案室走出來，一手搶去我的糖果，另一手手肘往我的肚子重重撞了一下。


「女兒？你從來沒有跟我說過你有女兒！你不是還沒結婚嗎？」我按著隱隱作痛的肚子問道。這混蛋警長打人還真是不留力。虧他的女兒看起來那麼溫文大方。


「要我寫份報告給你嗎？」警長沒好氣答我，只是把一張邀請卡放進我的口袋。


「今晚我的女兒將會參加大學畢業晚宴，可是我還有一大堆報告要處理，所以由你來當她的保鏢。」警長一副命令下屬的口氣真是令人討厭。不過看他曾經救我一命份上，就不跟他計較了。


放且能夠跟他女兒一起渡過一個愉快的晚上也挺不錯就是。


「小子，要是你敢向我女兒亂來，我保證把全警局的子彈都塞進你的頭殼裡。」儘管警長用電筒照著我，我仍然能夠清楚看見他那凌厲的眼神。


「拜托你了。」警長女兒俏皮地向我打了個眼色，然後往她老爸的面額輕吻了一下，就拉著我出警局。


「晚宴的地方在哪？我把車子開過來，你在這裡等我一下。」正當我準備拿出車匙的時候，一輛跑車駛來了警局門口，警長女兒竟然一下子跳上車去。


「今晚十二點在這裡集合吧。掰掰嚕！偵．探．先．生。」警長女兒向我送出一個飛吻，我都還沒好好接住，跑車就已經絕塵而去。


「最少也跟我介紹一下你的同學呀......」我把梳子拿出來，整理一下被強風吹亂的毛髮，無奈地駕車回家。


真是陰晴不定的一天。


-HANDS

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JOBI the Moon Fox: side story
HANDS the Detective Fox


What an unpredictable day.


Just as I thought the last case was fully resolved, and I could take a well-deserved rest, a call from the sheriff woke me up from my less than three hours nap after I got home from the pub.


“HANDS, come to the precinct.” Then the sheriff hung up. The sheriff’s helpless tone made my hair stand on end. I have a bad feeling about this.


I like crowded places. Places with a lot of people makes me feel more at ease. But, this doesn’t include the precinct.


Unruly drunk behaviour, fighting, hurting other foxes, stealing, ... none of the foxes that were brought into the precinct are good foxes.


Yet, I was completely bedazzled by the lady sitting by the door of the reporting room.


“Miss, what happened? I’m a private detective, perhaps I can help you.” I took a candy from the jar that I always have with me and offered it to her. That’s my sweet business card that I use to break the ice during self-introduction.


“What are you doing? She’s my daughter!” The sheriff suddenly came out from the reporting room, incredulous. He grabbed the candy and elbowed me heavily at my stomach.


“Daughter? You’ve never told me that you have a daughter! I thought you weren’t even married!” I asked while rubbing the sore spot where he punched me. This blasted sheriff really doesn’t punch lightly. Ironically, he has a daughter that looked so sweet and gentle.


“Would you like me to write a report for you?” The sheriff replied madly, putting an invitation card in my pocket.


“My daughter will be attending her university’s graduation dinner tonight. But I still have a lot of reports to deal with. So you will be her bodyguard.” His commanding tone is really repulsive. But given that he saved my life once, I won’t kick up a fuss over that.


Well, it’s really not that bad since I got to spend time with his daughter tonight.


“And if you dare to mess with my daughter, I promise I’ll put every single bullet in the precinct in your head.” He threatened. He shines a flashlight in my face and his fierce eyes pierced through the light.


“Thanks!” The sheriff’s daughter winked at me playfully, planted a light kiss on her father’s cheek, and then pulled me out of the precinct by my hand.


“Where’s the graduation dinner? Wait for me here, I’ll drive the car over.” Just when I took my car keys out, a sports car stopped right in front of the precinct and the sheriff’s daughter hopped onto the car in a heartbeat.


“Let’s meet here at midnight. Bye-bye! Mr. De-tec-tive.” The sheriff's daughter blew me a kiss, and the car zoomed away before I can properly catch it.


“At the very least, introduce your classmate to me...” I took out a comb and tidied my hair that got messed up by the wind, and drove home silently, alone.


What an unpredictable day.


-HANDS

JOBI the Moon Fox 序章 8 - Traveller 與 JOBI

JOBI the Moon Fox
序章 8 - Traveller 與 JOBI


如果可以在短暫的人生中找到一件值得堅持下去的事情，那會是多麼的幸運。


「終於......」


在 JOBI 消失後的第七十七個月圓之夜，我暫時放下牠交託給我的任務，急不及待乘上再次出現的月光通道，回到一切事情的起點。


對於每次月光狐重生，月光通道都會自動開啟這件事情，我覺得可能是 JOBI 國王預先設下的程序。為的是製造機會把「命名者」帶來這裡。


而我亦因此再次回到月球。


熟悉的寂靜，熟悉的環境，還有在那個熟悉的小山丘上，坐著一隻等待命名的白色小狐狸。半夢半醒的牠看起來十分惹人憐愛。


「久等了，小狐狸。你的名字叫 JOBI。」我在牠頭上輕輕拍了一下。


小狐狸得到命名後，毛色立刻從本來的全白色變成金黃色，牠的額頭上冒出了跟 JOBI 國王一樣的下弦月胎記。


我以為這隻新生的小 JOBI 會像上一代的 JOBI 般充滿活力地亂蹦亂跳，怎料牠竟然流起淚來。難道是因為等得寂寞了？


看見這一幕，我總算清楚意識到牠是個新生命，而不再是我以前熟悉的 JOBI。亦同時讓我作出了一個決定。


「JOBI，月球很沒趣的，到那邊去交朋友吧！」我指向遙遠的地球，鼓勵小 JOBI 自己去探險。相信牠一定會找到更多住在地球上的狐狸，探索更多的可能性。


而且，經歷過之前的事情，我覺得自己實在沒資格再跟小 JOBI 做朋友了。我怕自己的軟弱隨時會害牠再次變成透明......


我把圍巾拿下來套在小 JOBI 身上，並送上那瓶自旅程開始就一直帶在身上的糖果。


「待會將會出現一條月光通道，你只要乘上它就能夠前往地球了。到了地球之後如果遇到想結交的朋友，就送他糖果吧。」我拖住小 JOBI 的手，準備送牠乘上月光通道。


怎料牠突然拉住了我。


「我......我叫 JOBI，請問你叫什麼名字？我們......可以交朋友嗎？」


小 JOBI 含羞答答地向我遞上一顆糖果，一雙小手還在微微顫抖，就像花盡了力氣向我示好似的。


「......」


我立刻拭去禁不住湧出的眼淚，以免讓不知情的小 JOBI 難堪。


那顆糖果的甜味，我永遠也不會忘記。


「當然可以！我叫 TRAVELLER。」我微笑著向牠作自我介紹。算起來已經是第三次。


讓小 JOBI 乘上月光通道之後，我向牠送上最後的叮囑：


「無論如何也要堅持自己相信的事情喔！」


這也是上兩代 JOBI 教會我的事。


多得 JOBI 國王堅持自己的理想，我才得以來到月球，認識到狐狸。


多得二代 JOBI 堅持相信我的能力，我才能夠認清自己的軟弱，重新出發。


牠們的堅持讓我對未知的世界有了跟其他人不一樣的體會。


這次該由我做點什麼了。


我想踏遍全世界，尋找更多狐狸，記錄牠們的生態及習性，然後讓牠們聚集起來，不再因為被遺忘或者得不到命名而消失。


我希望世界上不再有孤獨的狐狸。


-Ms. Traveller


JOBI the Moon Fox
序章完


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JOBI the Moon Fox
The Neverending story - 序


旅程途中，一陣怪風突然迎面吹來，使我混身不舒服。


我感到跟小 JOBI 的連繫正在不斷減弱！


發生什麼事了？


等我，小 JOBI，我現在就來找你！


-Ms. Traveller

JOBI the Moon Fox

Prologue Chapter 8 - Traveller and JOBI

It is a blessing to find something worth fighting for within the short lifetime we’re given.

“Finally…”

On the night of the 77th full moon after JOBI’s disappearance, I took a break from the mission he gave me, rushed onto the moonlight tunnel, and went back to the where it all began.

Regarding the moonlight tunnel’s automatic activation whenever a moonlight fox is reborn, I believe it might be arranged by King JOBI to allow the “Namer” to be brought here.

And that’s also how I got back to the moon.

The familiar silence. The familiar environment. On the same familiar tiny hill, sat a little white fox, waiting to be named. It’s half dreaming expression is extremely endearing.

“You’ve waited a long time, little one. Your name is JOBI.” I gave him a gentle pat on his head.

After receiving his name, his white fur immediately turned a golden hue, and a crescent shaped birthmark - exactly like King JOBI’s - appeared on his forehead.

I thought the newborn little JOBI would be just as bubbly and flounced around like the previous one. But, out of the blue, he started crying. Could it be that he got too lonely waiting?

Witnessing this, it finally struck me that he is a new person, and not the JOBI I was once familiar with. I came to a decision then. 

“JOBI, the moon is very boring, why don’t you make friends over there?” I pointed at the faraway Earth, encouraging little JOBI to go exploring by himself. I believe he would definitely find more Earth dwelling foxes, and discover more opportunities.

Anyway, after all that had happened, I feel like I don’t have the right to befriend little JOBI anymore. I’m deeply afraid that my weakness will cause him to fade away again.

I wrapped my scarf around little JOBI’s body and gave him the jar of candies I had with me since the beginning of the journey.

“You can get to Earth via the moonlight tunnel that will appear later. After arriving on Earth, if you meet anyone you want to be friends with, just give them a candy.” I held onto little JOBI’s hand, preparing to send him off on the moonlight tunnel.

Unexpectedly, he held onto me.

“My...my name is JOBI. May I know what’s yours? Can we...be friends?”

Little JOBI shyly offered me a candy. His hands shook slightly as if he was trying his best to befriend me.

“...”

I hurriedly wiped away my tears that are running down my cheeks uncontrollably, in case the innocent little JOBI is embarrassed.

 
I’ll never forget the sweetness of that candy. 

“Of course we can! My name is TRAVELLER.” I smiled and introduced myself to him. Including this time, this is my third.

After I took little JOBI to the moonlight tunnel, I gave him my last piece of advice. 

“No matter what, hold on to the things you believe!”

This is also something the last two JOBIs taught me. 

Thanks to King JOBI insisting on his dream, I got to go to the moon and discover about the foxes. 

And thanks to the second JOBI believing in me, I got to recognise my weaknesses and start over again.

Their perseverance made me experience the unknown differently from other people.

 
This time, I should be the one doing something.

I want to travel all around the world, find more foxes, record their habits and their habitats, and gather the foxes. So they will never disappear again because they are forgotten or unnamed. 

I hope there will never be another lonely fox in the world. 

-Ms. Traveller

JOBI the Moon Fox

End of the Prologue chapter

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JOBI the Moon Fox
The Neverending story - Prologue

In the midst of the journey, a strange gust of wind blew directly at me, making me tingle all over.

I felt my connection with little JOBI begin to dwindle steadily.

What happened?

Wait for me, little JOBI! I’m going to you now!

-Ms.Traveller