Destined

Chapter 4

The next morning, not long after breakfast, there was a knock on the door. It was Sam.

  "Hello Sam," I greeted.

  "Hey Castiel. Dean, Adam and I were about to go train, maybe spar a little. If you want to join us, you're welcome to," Sam said. I hesitated. Fighting, even for sport, had never appealed to me very much, but... If I was going to make the best of this, I had to try to get to know the princes.

  "Thank you, I would be honored to join you," I said. Sam smiled as I stepped out into the hallway with him. 

  "Great." We started walking in silence, Sam leading the way. 

  "Did you enjoy yourself at the ball last night? Your dance was quite the event," Sam said. I took a deep breath. I was ready for people to stop talking about this dance. 

  "It was interesting. I do not normally dance in front of so many people," I said. "Balls are not my favorite activity."

  "I'm not particularly fond of them myself, although someone usually always gets drunk and does something stupid, which can be fun, as long as they aren't too stupid," Sam said. I looked over at him but didn't say anything, and we continued walking in silence until I spoke.

  "Who was it this time?" I asked.

  "Sorry?" 

  "Who got drunk and did something stupid?" Sam glanced at me quickly. 

  "Uh... Charlie," he said. I was about to ask what she'd done, but Adam turned a corner onto our hallway.

  "Adam! Castiel, you remember Adam," Sam said quickly. I nodded. 

  "Hi Castiel," Adam said, joining us as we walked.

  "Hello Adam," I said. Adam and Sam started talking about Adam's studies, giving me time to breathe. I liked the Winchesters, but they were a lot to take in, especially all at once. I could only imagine what it would be like when Dean joined the party. Dean struck me as a very loud individual, and I, a rather quiet person, didn't like that very much. But I had to get used to the three of them, they were going to be my brothers.

  I was pulled out of my thoughts as Sam, Adam, and I stepped out of a door and onto a large grassy area. There were racks of weapons set up and Dean was standing in front of a dummy holding a large sword. He looked around at us as we walked towards him, and my wings rippled slightly.

  "You got him to come out, then?" Dean said, smiling at me. Adam laughed and I blushed slightly. 

  "He's going to be our brother soon, Dean, we should get to know him," Sam said. I blinked. It was a bit disconcerting to hear my exact reasoning coming from Sam's mouth. 

  "Fair enough," Dean said. "Are you any good with a sword?"

  "Swords were never what I was best with," I admitted. Dean gestured to the racks of weapons.

  "Well pick your poison, and let's go," he said. Sam and Adam grabbed weapons of their own and went off a little ways to spar. I went over and looked at the racks. There were a few swords, some axes, and even a mace. But then I saw them. Two long daggers, looking like they'd been thrown in as an afterthought. I picked them up and looked at them.

  "These are beautifully made," I said. I turned to Dean to see him looking at me skeptically, his eyebrow raised.

  "Really? You're going with those?" he asked. 

  "They're what I'm best with," I defended myself. Dean shrugged and smiled, clearly thinking he would win this fight. He was probably right. Fighting had never appealed to me and I'd always had trouble picking things up as fast as my brothers did. I stepped into a fighting stance, wings slightly extended behind me, and Dean swiped at me with his sword. I rolled to the side and came up on my knee, raising one of the daggers to block his next blow while swiping his legs out from under him with my wing. Dean landed hard on his back and I stood up, shaking my wings twice and folding them up again. Dean didn't fight like we did at home. Dean stood up slowly, looking slightly amazed.

  "That was... impressive," he said.

  "My brothers are better fighters than I am," I said. Dean raised his sword.

  "Again," he said. "You first." I nodded, got back into my fighting stance, and charged. Dean brought his sword up and I spun to the side to swipe at his back. Dean quickly changed directions to block me and brought his hand up, trying to hit me in the head with the hilt of his sword. I leaned back to avoid it, having to flap my wings to keep from falling over. I came back at him with my dagger, and this time when he blocked I instantly had my other dagger at his neck. Dean smiled and we both lowered our weapons.

  "I underestimated you. You fight smart," Dean said.

  "I'm sure I wasn't that good," I said, slightly uncomfortable at the comment.

  "Are you saying I'm just that bad?" Dean asked, raising an eyebrow.

  "What? No, I-  of course I- I mean-" Dean smiled.

  "I was just messing with you," he said. "You shouldn't take everything so seriously, Cas." I tilted my head at the nickname.

  "Cas?" I questioned. 

  "Well Castiel is kinda long. If you don't like it-"

  "No, I like Cas. I... I like it," I said. I turned slightly away from Dean, unable to hold back a smile. I felt utterly ridiculous, a simple nickname shouldn't make me feel this way. But... all of a sudden I felt more... at home. I felt my wings start to flutter happily and quickly stilled them. This was absurd. I turned back to Dean, who was watching me. 

  "Is something wrong?" Dean asked. I shook my head.

  "Everything is fine, Dean. Shall we continue?" I asked. Dean grinned.

  Dean and I sparred for a while, and the more we did, the harder it was to beat him. He learned fast. I'd always been taught that when you had wings you were all but unstoppable, but whoever decided that obviously never fought Dean Winchester.