"I smell like a boy's locker room after a football game," Val stated with emphasis, plugging his nose in disgust.
  "Yeah, and I'm the one who has to smell it," Aske complained, glaring at him. "Why didn't you take a shower or bath when we were at that old cottage?  There was a working shower down the hall, near the bedrooms."
  "I had better things to do besides taking a shower, and smelling good."
  "Well, you do now 'cause we're stopping," he stopped in his tracks, pointing at the body of water in front of them. "There's a lake over there; we can bathe in that."
  "I always love it when I find an excuse to wear less clothes." Val started taking off his shirt; Aske doing the same.
  "Don't make this awkward, please," The raven- haired boy begged, knowing the other boy's sense of humor.
  The boy with the piercings only response was a wink before he pulled off his pants, leaving him only in boxing shorts to bathe in.  He ran to the lake, jumped in; Aske following that action.
  The water was freezing cold; it felt as if they were swimming in the oceans of the arctic.  The only good thing about being in that lake was getting rid of the stench that was left there for about a week and a half.
  "How long do you think it will take for us to find Myst?" Val questioned with a sad tone in his voice, rubbing the lake water up and down his hurt arm.
  "I'm not sure," Aske sighed. "She could've been taken anywhere.  If you were to capture someone, where would you hide them?" 
  The blond tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I would keep somewhere abandoned, maybe somewhere no one would think of going into."
  Aske let out a gasp of realization. "I think I know where she is!"  Excitement rushed through his veins.  He darted out of the lake, quickly putting on his clothes. "Come on, slow poke!  Do you want to find your sister or not?"
  "Alright, alright," Val walked over to him, and started putting his clothes on as well. "How do you know where she is?"
  Aske looked at the ground, frowning as he remembered childhood memories. "He used to take me to this place, lock me in one of the cells.  He always told me that he would turn that place into a correction facility or a place to store people that "shouldn't be alive" because he thought it was much needed for this world."
  "Who, Aske?"
  With a shuddering breath, he replied, "My father."