Chapter 5 – The Swordsman's Challenge

"Ah!" Gabriel stretched his arms upward. The swordsman gave a few other stretches to prepare himself for the upcoming duel. He glanced at the edge, but frowned as the man was not there yet.

He decided a greeting was in order. "Hello there!" He waved as the man in the mask looked up at him. "Slow going?"

The man seemed unimpressed. "I beg your pardon." Gabriel jumped a bit at the guy's voice. It was deep and sounded like he had been gargling gravel. "This is not as easy as it may look, so I'd appreciate it if you would not distract me."

"Sorry." Gabriel said, surprised to feel a bit sheepish.

"Thank you." The man returned to his climbing.

Gabriel sighed and turned away from the cliff. He drew his blade and did a few practice steps. His sword dropped. He was so bored.

Gabriel hated being bored.

He sheathed his blade and walked back over to the edge. "Uh," he waited for the man to look up again, "you don't think you could hurry it up a bit?"

The man in the trench coat grunted as he struggled to keep his grip on his latest handhold. "Look," he said impatiently, "if you're in such a hurry, you could lower a rope or tree branch or something that's useful in general."

Gabriel blinked. That hadn't actually occurred to him. "I could do that." He turned to where there was still quite a bit of rope wrapped around the anchor rock. There was probably enough to reach the man. "I've got some rope here, but I don't think you would accept my help." He called down to him. "Since I'm only waiting around to kill you and everything."

The man sighed as he climbed a bit higher. "That is not a very good way to start a relationship."

Gabriel chuckled a bit. "I don't know. My ex-girlfriend and I started out when she tried to kill me." He frowned. "Actually, that's also how our relationship ended, too."

"As fascinating as that is, could I just get back to climbing without being bothered?" The man asked. Gabriel could feel his glare from here.

"Well, if I lower the rope, I promise that I will not kill you until you get to the top."

The man did a tricky hop to grab onto the next ledge. "You may find that comforting, but I don't. You'll simply have to wait."

Gabriel scrunched his nose. "I hate waiting." He whined; he hated waiting almost as much as he hated being bored. He turned away, and thought about it a moment. There had to be some way to convince him. The swordsman walked back to the edge. "I could swear on my candy?"

The man snorted. "Considering that you are eating it and steadily lowering your supply, that's not reassuring."

"Is there any way that you will trust me?"

"I can't really think of anything."

Gabriel paused as something came to mind, but it would be big. He took a deep breath and seriously said, "I swear, on the soul of my father Charles Shurley, you will reach the top alive."

The man looked at him for a long moment, and it was like his very soul was being gazed at. Finally, the man replied, "Throw me the rope."

Gabriel uncoiled some of the rope and threw it down to him. After that, it didn't take the man long to make it to the top.

"Thank you." He was breathing a bit hard, but he straightened up and began to draw his sword.

"Wait a sec. We can start when you're ready." Gabriel held up a hand to indicate he should slow down.

The man continued his somewhat creepy staring. Had he even blinked at all? "Thank you again." He sat down on one of the nearby rocks. Gabriel flopped down across him. He watched as the stranger took off his boot and flipped it upside down, shaking it. Several large rocks fell out.

Gabriel lifted his eyebrows. That was a surprise. It occurred to him suddenly that he should do his finger check. "Excuse me," the man looked up with his own eyebrows raised, "you don't happen to have six fingers on your right hand, do you?"

The man in the trenchcoat gave him a confused look and tilted his head. "Do you always start conversations this way?" Still, he held up his right hand to show off his five fingers.

Gabriel huffed. He really should have expected this. "My father was killed by a six-fingered man. Though I do not blame him, for he was simply a henchman. It's his boss, some sort of ugly deformed hobbit that I really want. The minion is simply the best way to find him." He threw another candy into his mouth as he leaned forward towards the man. "You see, my father was a great sword maker. The six-fingered man and his boss showed up, and the hobbit requested a special sword. My father decided to take the job."

Gabriel drew his sword and gave it a melancholy smile. "It took him an entire year but eventually he finished." Flipping it over, he held it out to the man in the trench coat hilt first. Considering the guy also had a sword at his side, he thought he might be able to appreciate it.

The man quickly finished putting his boot back on and took the blade. He studied it, his eyes drinking in everything. Admiration bloomed in his gaze. "I've never seen its equal." He handed it back.

Gabriel grunted. "Yeah, it's a real masterpiece. When the two returned and the boss demanded it, he said he would only pay one-tenth of the promised price. My father, of course, refused. With a single order, the six-fingered man cut down my father." He bitterly sheathed his sword. "I loved my dad, and it just figures that one of the few times he decides to be assertive, he gets killed. Anyway, I naturally decided to challenge the murderer to a duel."

"The murderer, as in the six-fingered man?" The man asked.

"That's who I blamed at first, so yes." Gabriel replied. "The boss left after ordering him to kill me too." He shrugged. "I failed, of course. But the six-fingered man didn't kill me. He left me with this," he fingered a pale scar at the base of his neck, "and a heartfelt apology for the death of my father."

"Leading you to blame the man who ordered the death." The man concluded. "How old were you?" He tilted his head again as his face scrunched up.

"I was eleven years old." Gabriel stood and stretched. "Once I recovered, I then devoted my life to the study of swordplay, so I won't fail next time. That way, when I find that deformed hobbit, I can look him in the eye and say, 'Hello. My name is Gabriel Shurley. You killed my father. Prepare to die.'" He grinned at the thought of getting his revenge.

The man in the trench coat looked impressed. "You have done nothing but study swordplay? I cannot help but admire your dedication."

"Well," Gabriel said a bit sheepishly as he rustled his hair a bit, "it's been more of a pursuit than a study lately. I haven't been able to find him, and it's been twenty years. I'm working for Crowley in order to pay the bills. It turns out that there isn't much money in revenge."

"I see." The man rose and drew his blade. "I certainly hope you find the two someday."

"You're ready?" Gabriel felt his mood pick up from melancholy land. After all, they were going to fight!

The man shrugged and held the blade loosely in his left hand. "Whether I am or not, you've been more than fair."

Gabriel grinned as he drew his sword. "You seem a decent fellow." He held it up at the ready. "I hate to kill you."

The man in the trench coat held his own sword up. "You seem a decent fellow." Lightning seemed to crackle in his eyes. "I hate to die."

Gabriel took a deep breath. "Begin."

The first few strokes were tentative as both of them were testing the waters. However, the blows became faster and faster as they circled and learned each other's style. They went back and forth, exchanging blow after blow.

Slowly, Gabriel began to make the man back up, forcing him to begin moving up the rocky hill.

"You are using Bonetti's defense against me, huh?" The swordsman kept an eye on his opponent as he identified the man's moves.

The man in the trench coat managed to give a small shrug as he continued to fight. "I thought it fitting, considering the rocky terrain." He got to the top of the small slope.

Gabriel hurried after him. "Naturally, you must expect me to attack with Capo Ferro."

The two continued to exchange strikes on what appeared to have been a landing at some point. "Naturally, but I find that Thibault counters Capo Ferro, don't you?" He jumped back off the landing to avoid Gabriel's blade, standing once more on the flat ground.

"Unless the enemy has studied Agrippa." Gabriel took a running start and leaped off the landing, flipping in mid-air. He landed behind the man in the mask, who turned to meet him. "Which I, of course, have."

They threw themselves back into the fray. A smile grew on Gabriel's face as the clang of swords meeting continued to ring in the air. "You are wonderful." He admitted.

"Thank you. I've worked hard to become so." The man in the trench coat nodded at the compliment.

"I admit it: you're better than me." Gabriel's smile didn't dim a bit.

The man tilted his head in confusion. "Then why are you smiling?" He was forcing Gabriel closer to the edge of the cliff.

"Because I know something you don't."

"And what is that?"

Gabriel laughed. "I am not left-handed!" With a small toss, he switched his blade to his other hand.

He quickly turned the tables. The two of them began to make their way their way up the stairs. It was a lot easier for the swordsman to fight now that he was using his dominant hand. To his surprise though, the other man was still able to keep up with him.

The reached the top of the stairs at the balcony. Gabriel managed to direct the man towards the edge.

"You are amazing." The man in the mask said, returning the compliment.

"I should hope so." Gabriel began making the man back up. "I studied for 20 years after all." The man was pressed against the wall. Slowly, his weight began knocking the old, loose tiles off. Fairly soon, the man himself would be tipped over the edge. Their blades trembled as they were locked together.

However, there was something in the guy's eyes that made Gabriel wary. "I have something I should tell you."

"Tell me." The swordsman was game to hear what he wanted to say.

The man smirked. "I'm not left-handed either." With a push, Gabriel was forced back. The man in the trench coat straightened and switch hands. With a flourish of his blade, he came at the swordsman, and the fight resumed.

Gabriel grit his teeth. Now they were right back where they started. He started a bit as the man managed to disarm him. He watched in shock as his sword flew into the air and eventually managed to get stuck in the ground on the ground floor.

He glanced over but the man didn't come closer. The swordsman used the opportunity to leap off the balcony and use a convenient bar to swing himself over to his sword. He quickly turned around in a fighting position.

The man just smirked though and tossed his sword. It landed hilt up in a patch of grass. Then, he leapt off the balcony, swung around twice on the bar, and finally did a full flip onto the ground right next to his sword. He easily plucked it from the soil and held it again at the ready.

Gabriel could only stare in shock. "Who are you?"

"No one of consequence." The man in the trench coat said in all seriousness.

"I must know." After all, in the years since encountering the man who killed his father, he had never met someone who was even his equal at swords.

"You should get used to disappointment." The man fell into more of a fighting stance.

Gabriel shrugged. "Okay." He knew when not to push someone. He stepped forward and their blades clashed once more.

Forwards and backwards, to the left and to the right, the two of them continued to fight. They went up on rocks and the ruins of the castle. However, neither one could best the other.

Finally, they ended up in what had once been the entrance to the building. It only took a second, even as time seemed to slow down. The whirling of the blade distracted Gabriel, and his sword was knocked from his hand.

He was shocked. The swordsman couldn't remember the last time he had been truly beaten. He kneeled as the man in the mask stepped closer, blade raised. "Kill me quickly." He asked.

The man stepped out of his vision as he went behind him, but he briefly saw the frown on his face. "That would be quite a great waste. I have no wish to truly harm you; however, I cannot have you following me."

The man hit Gabriel in the head with the hilt of his sword. As he slumped to the ground, Gabriel couldn't help but moan, "Oh, the irony…"

The man in the trench coat sheathed his blade, and bent down to make sure that Gabriel was knocked out. "Please understand that I hold you in the highest respect." He said, as he gave the swordsman an awkward pat on the head.

That done, he straightened and quickly made his way in the direction that Crowley and Sam had taken Dean.

He had a mission to complete.

AN: So to make up for the last chapter, this one is really long. I think it might actually be the longest, though I'll admit I haven't checked. It's just that this is a really long scene, and I wanted to do it justice as it's really awesome in the original. I actually brought the fight scene up on YouTube and went step by step writing it so it could be as close as possible. Though I'll admit, Gabriel Shurley doesn't have the same ring as Inigo Montoya. This concludes my week of fics practically everyday and the full 10th anniversary of Supernatural ! I hope everyone had fun!