As I continued exploring Mt. Pyre, the surroundings started to darken as trees suddenly increased in numbers and blocked the sun with their numerous leaves.

I grabbed my flashlight from within my pocket and turned it on.

Despite the light illuminating a good bit of the surroundings, I still couldn't help but glance around me and it didn't help that every time I took a step, leaves would get crushed beneath my feet and produced a horrid crunching sound.

I recalled the old woman's words. The last person that went here has been harassed by ghosts right?

She said that but I still hadn't encountered any ghosts or the certain someone she mentioned. It was strange.

I bit my lip and aimed a short glance at my side, where my pocket is located

"Well, I've been walking for what? Ten or thirty minutes?" Shaking my head, I turned towards the camera, making sure to light up my face with the flashlight as I did.

"Should I just head back to the graveyard and try out my luck on the second floor? See if I'm more lucky to find ghosts there?" I continued

I really wanted to go back now, my feet are already tired and my clothes are drenched with my sweat, I haven't had this much physical activity since the time I trained with the twins.

"Hmm." I let out, to fill the silence while I think.

There's that but I also didn't really want the old woman seeing me give up so easily.

"I think I should walk around for a few more minutes and if I have not found a single ghost type, then I'm going back." I said with a nod

I pointed my flashlight forward and turned the camera back to the front again.

Continuing my walk, I moved slowly to lessen the fatigue on my legs and as time went on, mist had started to show which later turned into fog, further decreasing my ability to see

My flashlight is only a tiny bit of help in this scenario, there was too much fog covering up the surroundings that the light had trouble penetrating past it.

I sighed. "I think we have spent enough time here, I doubt we'll see anything with this fog."

I waved around my flashlight in hopes that it would reveal a ghost type hiding in the fog but that's way too improbable to happen.

"Hey! Maybe we'll find something more interesting at the graveyard! there's still the second floor and there might be other floors to explore as well." I said.

Hopefully there aren't, my feet are so darn tired....

A series of rings rang throughout the surroundings.

I paused. "Did you guys hear that?"

Frantically pointing my flashlight into every direction, I rushed to find the source of the sound

"Was it something ordinary or was it the work of a ghost!?"

I swept the air beside me and my flashlight tried its best to illuminate the area but the fog did not relent.

The sounds of ringing manifested once more and I tried a different approach, I closed my eyes and tried to pin point where exactly it's coming from

However, the sound seemed to be coming from all directions, making it hard to know where it truly came from.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Still, I tried and through some miracle, I managed to notice a slight difference in volume to the right.

"That way!" I yelled.

I pushed through the fog and ran to the source of the sound, moving faster and faster while making sure to keep my grip on the camera steady.

The ringing did not last long, however and I find myself running through a path where I last remembered the sound was from.

My foot ached every step I took but I spent enough time here already to give up, so I forced through the pain and moved even faster, faster than I already was, zooming past the trees and plants. And then I was on the ground

My feet had stumbled and my face crashed onto dirt, my grip on my camera loosened and it fell to the ground and so did my flashlight.

"Darn..." I cursed and my eyes winced at the pounding pain spreading throughout my body.

I let out a staggering breath and pushed myself off the ground only to come face to face with a person.

My eyes widened and I shrieked and fell down again.

I slowly glanced up and saw the person staring at me. "Oh... umm hi?"

The person tilted their head at me and stayed silent.

I waited for their response, laying on the ground while catching my breath, trying to shove the embarrassment away from my face.

The person simply stared and didn't speak for a few moments but after a while they offered a hand to me.

"Thanks..." I said and they only nodded.

I dusted myself off and grabbed both my camera and my flashlight to which I immediately pointed towards the person.

With the light, I could now see them properly, they are a 'girl' and she was blocking her eyes with both of her hands.

"Oh sorry" I pointed the flashlight elsewhere

"I think an introduction is needed" I said while wiping off the dirt from the camera's lens

"Guys! I think I found the person that the old woman is talking about! I'll introduce myself first." I said to the camera before turning to the girl

"Heya again! My name's Andrew and I'm here to explore this place and find some ghosts! I heard you're looking for one too as well, how about we'll look for one together?"

The girl blinked.

"Do you not want to.? Or..?" I frowned.

The girl pointed at her ears.

My frown deepened. What's is she trying to say, I wonder?

The girl pointed at her ears again.

"Are you saying you can't.... hear?" I guessed.

The girl only looks at me.

"Ah right can't hear, that was stupid of me." I slapped my face with my flashlight

There must be another way we can communicate... I didn't really bring any pen or paper with me so I can't write stuff to her, There's also the fact that she might not be able to be able to read.

I guess I have to resort to charades.

I pointed at my ears with the hand I have my camera on and then pointed at her then shook my head.

The girl smiled and clapped her hands repeatedly while nodding

"Okay, how to act this out?" I tucked the camera within my armpits and I stopped to think.

I pointed at the girl and then made an upside down peace sign, making a walking movement with it then pointed at myself with my other finger.

"Do you want to go explore together?" I said, purely for the camera

The girl blinked twice.

My mouth pressed together into a thin line. Not being able to hear makes communicating so difficult.

If only Ralts developed his telepathy enough to be able to speak in our minds and read other's thoughts, well not like I can release him right now though.

I sighed and tried again, doing the same actions once more but more slowly this time.

The girl didn't seem to really get it but the more I tried, she started to smile and get increasingly excited. She was bouncing all over the place and was nodding her head again and again.

I let a small smile enter my lips. "Finally! You got it, now let's... hey, wh-where are you going!? Wait!"

The girl ran off while looking back and beckoning me with her hands.

I tried to catch up to her and grab her but she was too fast. She wasn't even properly running but instead she looked like she was skipping.

I took the camera off my arm pits and said promptly. "The mysterious girl is running away guys! I have to catch up with her!"

Ducking over a low hanging branch and leaping over a huge rock, I have to watch out for my surroundings or else I'll trip again. At the same time, I need to keep the girl within my field of vision or I'll lose sight of her.

I gripped my flashlight and I just wished that it was more powerful, I wouldn't have to worry about tripping if I can see much more clearly.

"Hey wait u-" I shouted but mid sentence I realized that she is deaf.

That is really inconvenient.

If Ralts is here, I would've already been teleported at her side but of course he isn't here because I've been nothing but stupid

I groaned and increased my pace even more. Come on! How else can I catch her attention without shouting!

What do I have l have on me? A flashlight, a camera, some spare pokeballs, a phone and a couple of rations.

Wait! My flashlight!

I came to a sudden stop and aimed my flashlight directly towards the girl.

She was moving so smoothly, running past obstacles effortlessly. I held the flashlight tightly and rapidly turned it off and on, making the light flicker constantly

I wasn't sure if she was gonna notice it as the fog was interfering with the light but after doing it for a few solid seconds, she stopped.

I let out a breath I was holding and I waved towards her.

The girl stood still but then she waved back with a smile then tried to return to running again.

"No! No! Wait!" I frantically shake my hand around and did all sorts of gestures and movements.

That caught her attention and she stopped again, much to my relief.

I quickly erased the distance between us and stood beside her, "You really shouldn't run so fast..." I said between breaths.

"You." I pointed at her, "Move." Did the walking gesture thing, "Soooo." I put my hands really close together and space them apart very far, "Fast" I did the walking gesture thing again but more quickly.

Then I did it all again."You move sooo fast!"

Out of all the reactions I would've expected the girl to do, I didn't think that she would actually... pout.

She copied all my gestures but made a change to the last bit, instead of making the walking gesture fast, she made it move so slowly.

"I am not!" I pointed at myself and shook my head.

The girl stuck her tongue out and a sound resembling laughter escaped her mouth.

I wanted to argue with her further but then the ringing suddenly came back, sounding even closer than ever..

"Fine. I get it, I'm so slow." I quickly pointed at myself and made a slow moving gesture.

The girl stopped laughing and stopped to liste- see me.

"I think I hear a ghost nearby so can you please adjust to my speed and help me find it...?" I tried to gesture fast, pointing to my ears, I imitated a ghost and then looked side to side with my hand above my eyes.

The ringing lasted longer this time around and while I looked at the girl for her response, I made sure to make a mental note of the direction where it sounds the strongest.

It took her a while to get it but when she did. She smiled wide and clapped twice.

The shadows had become darker and the air became more noticeably chilly, there was a glint behind the girls back and I found myself staring at two gleaming orbs.

My heart thumped and in the next second, I totally did not scream.