FFXIV Write 2023 || FFXIV Write info\\Prompt list\\Character info \\Master post ||
Prompt 20: Hamper
to hinder or impede in moving, progressing, or acting
Character(s): Ciel Fyth, Malek Fyth (belonging to @holy-halone) Cw: none Word count: 765 Notes: Woo! I finally did a prompt with Ciel! This was literally the first thing I thought of when I saw this word :3 I plan to go back and clean it up as this is just the first draft but I wanted to submit what I had since I finished before the deadline. Set around pre-arr timeline! Enjoy <3
When morning arrived, the rainfall had stopped.
The Fyth siblings were eager to continue their journey through the Shroud, their progress no longer hindered by the violent thunderstorm that had forced them to camp out in the shelter of an old stable the night before. Ciel hadn’t been too enthused to do that as he was never a fan of loud storms but his older brother knew exactly what to do to keep him calm and distracted so that sleep was easy to come by.
With the sun rising again in a clear blue sky, Ciel was back in high spirits. He hummed happily, a few paces ahead of his brother who was occupied with trying to find any sort of sign they were heading in the right direction. Malek didn’t want to admit it out loud but he somehow managed to get them both way off course in his inner panic to find shelter when the storm had suddenly rolled in. The torrent of rain made it difficult to see so Malek picked a direction and ran, hoping to get lucky. Now that it was daylight, he realized with a pang of frustration, they backtracked quite a bit. Gridania hadn’t been too far the last time he had checked a map--if they kept heading north, they were bound to see something familiar.
Malek had just hoped nothing else would prevent their progress nor that his brother would catch on to the fact they may or may not be lost (he really ought to buy a map of the area one of these days). Though even if he knew, the younger didn’t seem to mind it as he continued to bounce along the trail and soak in the sun.
“Ah!” Ciel l came to a sudden halt, his ears flickering a bit. “I hear running water! The river!” He practically skipped forward in eagerness and Malek had to jog a little to keep up. The river meant they were nearly there which brought relief to the older sibling–they hadn’t gone too far off course like he thought they had.
His younger brother came to a stop at the rock, looking at the water and then turning back to his older brother with an eager smile, bouncing on his toes. Malek came to a stop next to him and looking at water below with a frown.
“That’s just great,” Malek huffed as he placed one hand on his hip, and carded the other one through his hair in annoyance. The rainfall had caused the river to rise significantly and there was no sign of a bridge to cross which meant that somehow, the aftermath of the storm still managed to hamper the way forward. “We’ll have to find another way across.”
“That’s okay!” Ciel turned, smiling brightly at his brother. “We can just swim across!” He didn’t wait for Malek to answer the question before slipping off with the intention to dive into the rushing river.
“Hold on,” Malek was quick to catch him, practiced hands reaching out to grab the back of his younger brother’s hood in order to hold him back. “There is no way we are swimming across that,” he pointed at the water to emphasize his point. “Do you see how quickly that water is moving? You’re going to get pulled under, even if you are a strong swimmer.”
“Oh.” Ciel blinked, turning to face his brother with a quizzical look. “Then do we wait another day before continuing on? So long as it doesn’t rain again, I think the water level should go down enough to cross safely…”
Malek didn’t reply right away as his gaze searched the trees nearby, landing on one that had fallen off its stump–most likely due to getting struck by lightning the night before. How convenient. Malek smiled to himself in victory and wordlessly made his way over to the tree. “Ciel, think you could use a little wind magic to get this thing over the river?”
Ciel perked up, pulled from his distracted mutterings to himself, mismatched eyes gazing at his brother in innocent curiosity before landing on the fallen log that Malek was still staring at. A smile spread across his face as he pulled out his white mage staff. “Happy to!”
With the log positioned over the riverbank, Malek and Ciel were able to cross and continue forward, their surroundings slowly becoming more familiar to the older sibling. Gridania wasn’t too far now, they’d reach the City-State by mid-day. He found himself humming quietly along with his brother, finally at ease.