A boy who had a fight with his widowed father ran away from home, wandered into a mountain and got lost. He couldn't make his way back home and decided to seek refuge in a hollow tree when night came.

The boy was scared and hungry, but he didn't know what to do. Hearing rustling sounds coming from a nearby bush he braced himself for the worst. Maybe an animal had found him, or maybe a spirit living in the mountain was about to play a prank on him.

Hugging his knees closer to his chest while burying his face and closing his eyes hoping not to be found. And then he felt it. A small thud in his head, someone or something had thrown a pebble at him.

He was too afraid to look up though, but as he kept on feeling more pebbles being thrown at him he started getting annoyed. And with enough courage he decided to finally speak up and he'll for whoever or whatever was throwing those rocks at him to stop.
Leaving the hollow tree, he managed to see a boy going into hiding behind the bush.

Against his best judgment, he decided to approach the boy, but the closer he got the more he noticed something familiar about him. Slowly tapping the weird boy's shoulder, he stumbled backwards, the weird boy turned and he saw his own face looking back at him.

He was about to scream and run away but then stopped when he saw "himself" just as afraid as he was, and that's when he also noticed the elongated fuzzy ears sticking out of "his" head and the long fluffy tail.

Staying, he wiped away his tears and said a shy hello to his living reflection. The doppelganger's ears twitched a little bit, making the boy more aware of them. "He" then stood up and kept on looking at him as if not sure how to respond. The boy then introduced himself and said he wandered into the mountain and that he was scared and hungry and asked "him" if "he" knew the way back home.

The doppelganger just nodded and turned his back to the boy, and started walking really fast. The boy had trouble catching up. His only source of light was the full moon and his doppelganger moved so eerily fast that he was afraid he was going to lose him.

Tripping in the darkness, he fell and rolled down a hill. In pain he looked up and saw himself peeking out from behind a tree from where he tripped. Confused and alarmed as he started thinking that the "boy" had tricked him, he was about to ask why when he suddenly saw lights appearing behind him.

Souls!? No, torches, he then heard his name being yelled and knew it was his father's voice and some other men from the village. He started running towards the many lights, but then realized the "boy" had led him here to get rescued. He turned around to thank the "boy" but "he" was no longer there.

A week later, the boy returned to the mountain and called for the "boy", he wanted to thank him for what he had done. But no matter how many times he did so, the "boy" never showed up. He then placed a small pouch on a nearby three stomp and said he would be back here the next day.

After a month of going to the mountain every day, and leaving the "boy" food, he thought that maybe he didn't wanna be seen again, and feeling dejected he turned around and was about to leave when he felt a small breeze behind him. Behind him was the boy with the fox ears, still shy as he munched on the food brought to him.

The boy was expecting for the fox to run away when he sat next to him after he was done eating, but surprisingly he did not. And ever since that day, they would meet each other to hangout on the same spot, while the boy shared the food he brought with him.

The boy would call the fox Yuu. Over the years, their friendship grew stronger as they kept on growing up. To the point where Yuu would miss his friend when he started his apprenticeship under his father and couldn't hang out with him too often.

When he started leaving town, each time it would take longer for him to return, and he would always tell Yuu of all the new things he saw and all the new places he visited. But every time, Yuu would feel them getting more distant. His friend was obviously more interested in getting to see the rest of the world, which pained him a lot since he was bound to the mountain and couldn't leave.

The time finally came when his friend told him he was leaving for good and said he probably wouldn't see the Yuu again, much to his dismay. But instead of saying goodbye, he asked if there was a way for him to come along. He had too, he just couldn't bear to depart from the fox, the first true friend he ever had.

Yuu's magic wasn't strong enough to support himself, and relayed on the mountain for support since it was his home, outside of it, he would grow weak and certainly perish. But the thought of losing the man in front of him forever was worse than any other thing he could possibly imagine. So, going against his better judgment, he decided to travel alongside his friend. At least, for as long as he could.

Both were overjoyed by being able to travel the world together and being able to see what it had to offer. The more time they spent time together, the more their friendship evolved into something else; something more intimate and personal.

Yuu's magic never faded, and neither did him. In fact, he kept on growing bigger and stronger since every place where he traveled alongside his beloved was a home as long as they were together.

But no matter how vast the love for each other was, they still couldn't beat time. Yuu stopped aging but his lover didn't. By the time they finally accepted the fact that death was calling for one of them, they had decided to make their pilgrimage to the Forest of Eternity, one of the mythical places his beloved wanted to see before he passed.

They made it to their destination, but the exhaustion from the journey and Yuu's beloved old age became too much. He took his final nap in Yuu's arms as the fox watched over him.

Yuu decided to bury him right on that spot. While deep in mourning, he was approached by the residents of the forest who welcomed him to stay, and so he did. Building his den around his beloved's resting place, where now a giant and majestic tree stands.

And when Yuu rests under the tree, and the wind blows through its branches, he hears his voice. The memories of them traveling together make Yuu happy. And as he drifts off to sleep, he feels at home.

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Kitsune boy adopted from   Dyrensmor / Twitter. I loved the design at first sight!