Digimon: Elemental Mages

by BridgitKiido

Disclaimer: Let's put it this way – Digimon isn't mine. But the Mages (my characters)are.Got it?

Fly Like an Eagle

When Jennie got home, she stole away to her room before greeting her mother. Ms. Takaishi didn't comment as she noticed her daughter's door close, however, as this particular night of the week was one of the red-haired girl's nearly nightly calls to the judge that had come to the fateful verdict that had separated her from her brother.

Jennie dialed the number and put the phone up to her ear, listening earnestly for the dial tone, followed by three rings. Then came the judge's voice, and Jennie smiled weakly.

"Hello, Judge Akasaka? … Yes, this is Jennifer Takaishi again. …yes, this is about the same thing… what was that? You're still not budging? …yes, I know, but… please, you don't have any idea how much it hurts to not be able to see him… I understand. I'll call back later to try and convince you then." She hung up the phone and hung her head.

Ms. Takaishi walked quietly toward Jennie's room and knocked on the door. After hearing a weak "come in" from within, she opened the door and took a seat next to her daughter on the bed.

"He still won't change his mind?" Ms. Takaishi asked, and Jennie nodded, a couple of tears falling down her cheeks before she began crying completely.

Jennie's mother hesitated for a moment, but then put her hand on her daughter's back, saying for what seemed to Jennie like the hundredth time, although it was probably more, "As long as you're careful, you can keep doing what you're doing until we figure out a way to get through this. I want you to be safe, but I also want you to be happy."

Jennie nodded, although some tears still flowed down her cheeks. "I just wish Papa hadn't done all of this…"

.----.

That evening, John made his way back to his father's house – grudgingly as usual. As he walked through the door leading into the dreary kitchen, his father stood in front of the only passage to the bedrooms. John pretended that his father wasn't there, grabbed a snack, and made his way towards the hallway that led to his bedroom. When his father didn't move, however, he stated without changing his expression, "Will someone please remove this abnormally large blockage from the hallway?"

His father replied in a somewhat hostile tone, "So, son, how was your day? Keeping out of trouble, I suppose?" John didn't reply, just tried to dodge past his father into the hallway beyond. His father continued, "For example, you didn't seek out the company of a certain forbidden person around your age, huh?"

"If you're talking about my sister," John finally replied in a very aggravated tone, "who says I seek out her company?"

"So," his father pounded on the wall with his abnormally large fist. (Can you tell he is just plain abnormally large?) "You're admitting that you did meet with her, aren't you?"

John now raised his voice a little bit and began to have a bit of a sarcastic tone. "Are you nuts? Why would I meet with her when you so explicitly banned us from seeing each other?"

His father then raised his own voice. "I don't know – maybe because you want to rebel against me!"

John was now practically yelling. "Who says I'm not already doing that?"

"THAT'S IT," his father screamed. "NO FOOD FOR A WEEK! And," he stated slyly, "I'd like you to remember the consequences of meeting that certain forbidden person."

"THAT DOES IT!" John also screamed. "I'M SLEEPING OUTSIDE TONIGHT!" He then stormed out of the room and slammed the door very loudly, leaving his smirking father in the dust. Although, if you were to hold a barometer in that room just then, you would have noticed a slight change in the air pressure.

He made his way into the woods of the backyard, into a small cove of four trees that kind of naturally almost made a tent. Draped over those four trees was a tattered blanket, obviously having been out there for months on end. John removed the blanket from the trees and attached it to some large tent posts, forming a small hideaway for the umpteenth time. He then sat down in it, eating his snack and secretly practicing the levitation of leaves – only a little bit, not enough to let any onlookers realize that it wasn't just the wind blowing them around.

.----.

The first thing that Bridgit saw when she reached her house was a swarm of flashing lights gathered outside her house. She also heard a large swirling mass of sirens gathered there. She passed by them without thinking about it too much, seeing as crooks often tried to break into the Kanara household. She entered the house quietly, but was stopped in the front hall by her parents. Mr. Kanara looked quite flustered, as though he had just been called home from an important business meeting. Which, by the looks of things, he had. Mrs. Kanara, meanwhile, was on the verge of tears as various servants ran around behind them, apparently very troubled about something, as even the cook was running about, and he was supposed to be making dinner.

"Is something the matter?" Bridgit asked without making eye contact as usual.

Bridgit's mother ran up to her and hugged her tightly. "Oh, Bridgit, we're so glad you're home safe!"

"Why?" Bridgit managed to squeak out from underneath her mother's choking embrace. "What… happened?"

Mr. Kanara was the one to answer, "You're sister never returned from her lesson. We think she's been kidnapped."

.----.

The next morning, Tan and Rhenna were waiting at the cave with Jennie and Bobby, who had already shown up. The former pair was getting a bit impatient for Bridgit and John to show up, and Jennie was getting a little worried about her brother. Finally, Bridgit showed up, a little bit out of breath. Tan stated a little bit sarcastically, "Ah, here you are. What happened, you wake up late or something?"

Tan was wearing his sports goggles once again, along with a maroon short-sleeved shirt, a bright red jacket that was left unzipped so that the maroon showed through, and a pair of khaki slacks.

Rhenna wore a dark forest-green shirt with half-sleeves and a short yellow skirt, the latter of which was worn over a pair of blue slacks – her excuse was that she didn't want her skirt tearing again.

Bobby had a lilac-colored shirt – long sleeves – and a pair of dark blue slacks that were covered in fuzz – he claimed that he had a couple cats at home and with cats, it's hard to not have cat hair all over the place, including on your dark pants.

Jennie wore a bright yellow shirt and a light blue skirt, as well as a small hairclip in her hair, which provided balance for her left side.

Bridgit's outfit consisted of a white sweater that was buttoned up to the top so that you couldn't see the shirt underneath and a golden-colored skirt that reached to about half a foot below her knee – comfortable, flexible, and reasonable.

"Sorry," Bridgit said a little huffily. "I had to convince my parents to let me come. Since my sister went missing last night, they're afraid I might disappear too."

"What?" Jennie asked, now a little bit more worried.

"See," Bridgit sighed, "my sister, her name is Kima, yesterday she was supposed to be home from her lesson yesterday at around six, but she never got home. My parents are getting very worried that she might be kidnapped or something, and they didn't want me to leave today in fear that I might also disappear, but I eventually convinced them to let me leave, on the condition that I'd keep looking for Kima. And I am."

"Alright," Tan sighed, "as long as it doesn't interfere with our mission."

"Oh, it won't interfere. I have a couple ideas where she might be. Oh, and I did some scrying last night, and it looks as though one of the two remaining crystals that Nefertimon mentioned is active, in case you're interested."

Nobody had much time to contemplate this, as John ran very quickly to the cave's entrance and stopped, very much out of breath. It appeared as though the twins had once again thought alike, as John was also wearing a bright yellow shirt and a blue pair of slacks. "Sorry," he panted, "but I was sleeping outside again, and without an alarm clock – well, you get the idea." Jennie sighed, knowing exactly what had happened once again.

"Well," Rhenna said, "now that we're all here, let's go." Everyone nodded, and Tan led the way down the cavern until they reached the carving once again. Tan placed his hand on the carving, and the six of them were transported once again into the alternate dimension known as the digital world.

.----.

"Hello?" a little girl called in the dark forest. "Hello?" she called again, not getting any answer at all, not even a friendly echo. "Is anyone there?" she called once again, and this time, the cry of a bird answered her. It was a rather large bird, and if it had been standing right next to the little girl, it would have stood at exactly her height – which isn't saying much, since the girl was rather young and her height matched her small age. She only saw its silhouette on the dawn clouds above, but in reality, it had a brilliant white crest upon its head, while the rest of its plumage was a lovely crimson shade.

.--.

Eaglemon

Level: Ultimate (Yes, the first ultimate!)

Abilities: Mountain Screech, Feather Storm

.--.

"That's a really pretty bird!" the girl said, and then she sat down on the ground, moping a little bit. "Oh, if only I could just sprout wings and fly away from here like that bird."

Suddenly, from where her cross-legged position had a small hole in it, there was a bright glow, sort of orange-colored, which floated up and into the little human girl's hands. (A/N: And I stress the human part, for reasons that you will see shortly.) "What's this?" she asked, looking at what it actually was – a small piece of the tiger-eye gem shaped almost like an almond.

Before she could figure it out, however, a large "HOOOOOOOO!" came from deep within the forest. The little girl was very spooked by this and closed her eyes, saying in a frightened tone, "I just want to get out of here!"

Then there was a poof. And the girl was no longer there – at least, she was no longer a little girl. She was not even human anymore – she had turned into an almost-perfect clone of the Eaglemon that she had seen earlier. She noticed that for two seconds, wondering why she now had wings instead of arms, but then she decided that her little question could wait until she got out of there. So, she spread her new found wings and flew away – a little bit clumsy, but still alright at it. She had no idea where she was going – just that she needed to get as far away as possible from that area.

.--.

When the mages arrived in the cave – not falling unconscious on the way there, unlike last time – their digimon partners were awaiting them, along with both the egg and another unknown digimon. It could easily be described as a white cat, although its grace and beauty could not be put into words. At times, it almost seemed to be semitransparent, a white tint but letting the background shine through. And that's not taking into account the little tiny symbol on its forehead – an almost-almond-ish shape with the points going up and down and the bottom point cut off, with two more almond-shapes on the sides, their bottoms cut off as well.

The digimon ran over to their partners – except for the new one, which sat next to the egg still. Bridgit hugged Spikecornmon, being careful not to get poked by the prickles, and after the exchange of hellos, asked, "Spikecornmon, who is that other digimon who's sitting by the egg?"

Spikecornmon said happily, "Oh, don't mind her. That's just Crystamon. She's been here all night, saying that she's waiting for someone. And when I asked her who, she only said that the one she was waiting for is a human girl and, at that point, was already in this world."

.--.
Crystamon

Level: Champion

Attacks: Gemstone Blitz, Titan Paw

.--.

"You don't think… no, it couldn't be," Bridgit pondered, and then shook her head. "Come on, let's go. We have to deliver the egg to Seraphimon's castle, remember? We can probably take a Trailmon – that's a train-like digimon that comes in several varieties – to the forest terminal, and I think I read something in my book about there being one around here somewhere."

The other mages all nodded, and the six humans, seven digimon, and one egg set out into the forest to try and find a Trailmon to take them to the forest terminal. And their hike through the woods took an uneventful couple hours, with only a couple of rest breaks when Rhenna complained about being tired – Bridgit shook her head then because Rhen was actually just sitting on a giant leaf and riding on that – and then when Jennie accidentally fell off of John's flying rock and landed in a big mud puddle – it was actually quite funny, but John was horrified and apologizing constantly to his sister, who kept insisting it was alright.

Anyway, after all that had happened, something finally happened that was noteworthy. They heard a large amount of screeching ahead of them, and as they kept walking the cause became obvious – a large group of Eaglemon was pecking this other one very hard. The Eaglemon that were doing the pecking were saying things like, "Get away from here, traitor!" and the one being pecked was doing most of the screeching, trying to get away. Maybe if those birds had stopped pecking the one in the middle for a minute, they would have found out the truth. But no, they had to keep pecking and find out the hard way.

There was also a group of Eaglemon that was hovering over the warring group, egging them on. Bridgit ran up to one of them and asked, "Excuse me, but what's going on here?"

The Eaglemon cast Bridgit a suspicious eye, but then said, "The traitorous one has returned! And he was under strict orders to never return; else he would receive death by pecking!"

"Sounds more like a she to me," Jennie noted, listening quietly to the screeches and cries from the center of the fray.

The Eaglemon that Bridgit was talking to stated, "Regardless of whether he sounds like a girl or not, every digimon has their own unique code, and this one's code matches the traitor's completely. And the law must be followed!"

"Let me see," Bridgit said, walking towards where the Eaglemon were pecking. When they wouldn't let her through, she pulled out her diamond and fired a warning laser, saying more forcefully this time, "I said, let me see!" The warring Eaglemon were frightened by her sudden act against them, and backed away slowly. The frightened bird that had been being pecked for some time now huddled where it stood, and Bridgit could just make out a little voice saying, 'I don't like birds anymore.'

Bridgit looked the bird over, comparing every detail to the other ones in the group. She looked for anything that might have any meaning – a millimeter off of the pattern, a fraction of a color difference in the beak, anything. Of course, she didn't have to look that far – on the bird's right leg, there was a strange lump, almost in the shape of an almond. Yes, more with the almonds again. Unknowingly, Bridgit touched the lump and pulled on it, expecting it to stay intact but still testing it. What actually happened was completely unexpected.

The lump came off and instantly transformed into a small piece of the tiger-eye gem. What was really weird – the bird then transformed into a little girl, roughly three-quarters of Bobby's height. She was having trouble keeping her eyes open, but you could tell they were a deep, earthy brown. So was her hair – somewhat short, but a crisp brown shade with a few streaks of golden highlights, as well as a couple flakes of dandruff here and there. Her outfit was made up of a pair of khaki capris and a white shirt with a large cat face on the front that said "NYAN". Of course, that isn't taking into account the dozens of bruises and scratches that she had accumulated over the past few minutes. Everyone gasped, especially the other Eaglemon, and the little girl fainted into Bridgit's open arms. Bunimon stood nearby, ribbons at the ready.

.--.

When the little girl woke up, she was on the ground, underneath a warm blanket made of leaves, and there was a small glass of hot cocoa sitting right next to her head. Bridgit sat by her feet, almost falling asleep herself. "B…Bridgit?" the little girl said quietly, still not quite fully awake yet.

"You're awake," Bridgit said, still not looking towards the girl. "I was very worried about you. Do you have any idea how hurt you were?"

"No," the little girl replied, trying to sit up but finding herself too tired. "Not really. All I remember is being picked on by those mean birds."

Bridgit then turned towards the girl and said, "You're lucky to be alive. In fact, you're lucky we found you at all. Do you have any idea how worried everyone is back home about you?"

The little girl replied, "It wasn't my fault, it was those birds…"

Bridgit raised her voice a little bit here. "You could have gotten your bones broken, you could have been knocked unconscious, you could have… could have died." The little girl nearly burst into tears here, but then Bridgit lowered her voice and smiled. "But the important thing is that you didn't. And that's what matters, Kima."

Here, the other mages said in unison, "Kima?"

Bobby said alone, "She's your sister? From your letters, I gathered that she was taller and…" John levitated a leaf and held it fast to Bobby's mouth, shutting him up.

Bridgit then suddenly remembered something and pulled the little tiger-eye out of her pocket saying, "I almost forgot. This belongs to you – at least, I think it does."

Kima pushed Bridgit's hand away, saying, "I can't touch that. Not after what it did to me back there. I can't change back to myself, and that could have saved me back there if I'd been able to."

Here, Crystamon jumped onto the makeshift bed. "Never fear, I'll help you with that."

"Who are you?" Kima asked the small cat, who was proceeding to rub herself all over Kima's head.

"I'm Crystamon!" the digimon said happily. "I'm your digimon partner, and as I said, I'd be more than happy to help you with your powers."

"Alright," Kima said, still not understanding this whole thing about the digimon and stuff.

("And I'll explain all about everything around if you want," Crystamon said in a bubbly way as she noticed Kima's confusion.)

That's when the Eaglemon that Bridgit had been talking to flew up to Kima and landed right next to her. It said, "I'm so sorry for the misunderstanding. By way of apology, I'd like you to have this." She pulled from beneath her wing a beautiful band of knitted golden yarn. "You can wear this, and if you ever come back, we won't mistake you for the traitor again. Besides, it would look good on you. It matches your hair quite nicely."

"Thank you," Kima said shyly, and she put it around her head like a headband.

"And don't worry, Eaglemon," Bridgit said happily. "If we find the traitorous one, we'll make sure to teach him a lesson for you."

"Thank you, humans," the Eaglemon said, and it, along with its fellows, waved goodbye with its wings as the mages – and Kima – headed off towards the nearest Trailmon terminal.

Will Kima ever get the hang of her new powers? And what about the traitorous Eaglemon? Find out next chapter!

Author's Note: Nyan is the Japanese word for "Meow", and I think that the title is one of the lines of some song or something... but it fits. So anyway, please read, review, and don't kill me if I take too long to update!