Author Note: Sorry for the delay. I'd like to thank LGTW for following this story, and everyone else for reading. Please review.

Chapter 4: Rhia the Bonesinger

"Man, I don't think we've gotten any closer." Tamas said, looking out towards the distant black shape from where he had been sleeping, looking forward to another day of walking with nothing but xenos as company.

"Way to say the obvious." Piramon said, adjusting his perch on Mesme's head. "Quit whining and keep walking, talking's not going to get us there."

"But we don't know what there is." Saldramon pointed out. "Waiting longer might help us out."

"I thought we agreed something was better than nothing." Mesme said. "It could just as easily be a way home." Tamas finally started standing up, but he failed to stop his grumblings.

"Do you Tau ever stop smiling?" He asked. Looking away from the group, he was the first to notice the longhaired girl walking across their range of vision. "Hey, another human!" Tamas started sprinting to catch up with her, leaving the rest of the group quite stressed trying to keep up with him. The girl didn't give Tamas any notice as he came closer, so he moved to tap her on the shoulder as he started to introduce himself. "Hey, my name's Tamas, what's-" An inch away from her shoulder Tamas's hand was caught by the girl's faster than he could see, without her even flinching her body.

"Don't touch me, Mon-Keigh." She said coldly. Tamas felt his hand being crushed by far more strength than a girl her size should possess, and his mind began to take in all the little details he should have noticed beforehand, like her ornate and alien blue robes, her unnaturally silver hair, and most tellingly the pointed ears emerging from her hair.

"Aw nuts, not another one." He said.

"You've already met the dark eldar and lived. Strange."

"Will you let go?" Tamas asked, but the girl only tightened her grip, eliciting a cry of pain. "He ran off when Saldramon beat his partner, okay?" The girl seemed to frown and began to tighten her grip again, but in that same moment Saldramon came charging in. The girl didn't need to have paused, because in that same moment her stone-like partner arrived, barreling into the green reptile and throwing it to the ground. Tamas watched Saldramon go down, and had to have his attention refocused by more pressure to his hand.

"Why?" The girl asked.

"I don't know." Tamas answered. The girl let go, and Tamas went sprawling to the ground.

"What should we do with them, Rhiantha?" The stone being asked, keeping one foot pressed down on Saldramon.

"Leave these fools be, Spirimon, they're no threat to us." Rhia replied.

"Hey, we're all on the same side here, right?" Mesme said as she and Piramon caught up. Rhia frowned and turned to look at Mesme. "You're working against the dark eldar too, aren't you?"

"The fallen one is nothing but an interloper. My concern is with the necrontyr he has sided with." Rhia replied. "And even if we had a common enemy, it would make me no ally of degenerates like you."

"Are you really going to take them on your own? You'll be outnumbered."

"Numbers mean little compared to strategy. Stay out of our way or we will have to deal with you as well." Rhia walked away, seeming to float as her robes swayed above the ground. "I've wasted enough time on you. Come, Spirimon."

"Yes, Rhiantha." Spirimon said, following Rhia. It wasn't until the pair was well out of sight that Tamas spoke up.

"Man, how many xenos are there out here?" He said.

"What's a necrontyr?" Mesme asked, unconcerned with Tamas's complaints.

"I think she meant necron, but those are just a myth."

"Necrons?"

"Yeah, metal shells inhabited by the minds of an ancient civilization tricked into a terrible pact by malevolent star-eaters." Tamas explained. "Don't worry, my teacher assured me they're not real." Mesme looked quite amused by his reply. "What?"

"Nothing." She answered. "So, aren't we going to go-"

"No way." Tamas answered. "I am not getting between that girl and the dark eldar. That has bad news written all over it."

"Yeah, if she wants to get beaten up that's fine by me." Piramon said.

"And we'll never reach the black object if we keep getting distracted." Saldramon added, still rubbing his head in pain.

"Alright." Mesme said, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess we'll leave her alone to take on the dark eldar and the necron by herself." She glanced at everyone else, one at a time, but when they failed to respond, she sighed and followed along as they renewed their trek towards the distant black spire.

OOOOO

"We could have made use of them." Spirimon said, staying behind Rhia as they followed the trail of the necrontyr.

"Smiling fools like that would just get in our way." Rhia replied.

"Perhaps. But to always think the worst is the path to despair."

"We can handle them."

"Just because we can do it alone doesn't mean we have to."

"This is eldar business, mon-keigh have no place in it."

"They do. Humans and tau are part of this galaxy just as much as we are, and the ancient enemy is as often their foe as it is ours." Before Spirimon had even finished, Rhia was already stamping her foot on the ground, crushing the stone beneath it.

"I am your tamer, Spirimon, and my word is final." She said. "We will defeat the necrontyr with our own strength, and leave those mon-keigh alone." Her order was first met by silence, but Spirimon finally responded after he felt he had waited long enough.

"As you say, Rhiantha."

They continued on in silence, Rhia occasionally checking her blue-rimmed D-spex. They were closing in steadily, but at the same time she was worried the dark eldar might already know she was tracking them. Certainly the head start the two had managed to get in the morning, even though she didn't need to rest like they did, was suspicious. As it was, there was little chance they could ambush her as long as she was tracking them with her D-spex, but at the same time if they were paying attention to their own D-spexes they would notice her. But if they had they would most likely have turned to confront her by now, so she felt some small condolence.

"Come on, if someone was tracking us they would have attacked by now." Jalith's shrill voice drifted into Rhia's ear from the wind, telling her she was close.

"Prepare yourself." She told Spirimon.

"I am ready. Are you?" He replied.

"I am always ready."

"Then let us finish this." The pair quickened their pace, and as they crested a hill, they saw their prey: the necrontyr who wore a living body, and with him the dark eldar and both mortal's partners.

"What?" Jalith exclaimed when he saw Rhia. "How'd you sneak up on me?"

"You're neither observant nor wise." Rhia replied. "Now move away from our ancient enemy so I may deal with him." Jalith smirked in response.

"Why should I listen to a little girl like you? Me and Sediba make a great team."

"Don't underestimate one of those who sided with the devourers of stars."

"I'm sorry, but that decision really had nothing to do with me." Sediba said sounding quite perturbed.

"Don't bother." Jalith said. "Craftworlders are nothing but a bunch of self-righteous spoil-sports. You're wasting time trying to reason with one."

"As I have wasted time trying to reason with one of the fallen." Rhia said. "Deal with them, Spirimon."

"Yes." Spirimon answered, nodding once with his body before charging forward. Scarabmon's first reaction was to launch an orb of green lighting, but Spirimon took it face first without even flinching. Before he could reach the beetle Reavmon dashed in from the side, swiping with his claw. Spirimon caught the arm and twisted around, flinging the canine into a nearby rock while not losing his momentum towards Scarabmon and Sediba.

"Run!" Scarabmon yelled as he charged another attack. His voice was enough to shake Sediba from his shock at the sudden assault, but the necron had only gone a few steps before Spirimon's fist connected with the beetle's face, sending him flying back and knocking Sediba down in the process.

Spirimon marched over to where the two lay on the ground and lifted his foot for a finishing stomp, but Reavmon dived for him again and knocked the stone-like being over, sending both rolling across the ground. The moment they stopped, Spirimon thrust forward, throwing the canine off him.

"Keep your eyes on the enemy, fool." Jalith yelled as he came up from behind Rhia, knife ready to strike. Without saying a word she turned and caught Jalith's hand midway, using the rest of the momentum to easily fling him far off to the side. Her attention returned to the main fray, where Spirimon held Reavmon by the throat.

"Good work, Spirimon." Rhia said. "I'll deal with the necron." She began walking over, her steps so light that she might have been floating, but just as she reached where Sediba and Scarabmon lay on the ground, she was interrupted by harsh coughing from behind her.

"No." Jalith stood up, still sounding as if he was hacking up his lungs. One hand grabbed at his chest, while the other merely clenched itself in fury. "No one can do that…" Eldritch light filled his palm, but he didn't notice, his eyes focused on his enemies. "To my tools!" Jalith clasped a black-rimmed D-spex tight.

"Finally." Reavmon hissed as his claws dug into Spirimon's arm and the hand opened in pain. Reavmon sprang back as the Spirimon drew back for a punch, but it was far too slow. Feeling his tamer's rage inside of him, Reavmon howled and unleashed a funnel of freezing power that engulfed his opponent. Reavmon snapped his mouth shut and the funnel disappeared, revealing that Spirimon was encased by ice. Without looking he dashed to the side and knocked Rhia flat, stabbing his claws into the ground next to her head to keep her pinned.

Rhia looked up as Jalith walked over, as calm as if he had always held the advantage. As he squatted down to look her in the face, the ice encasing Spirimon shattered, and the digital being fell to his knees in pain.

"I'm thinking your partner was lucky to stay intact after that." Jalith said. Rhia's only reply was to stare at him in anger. "Now, it's lucky for you that you're eldar, because- oh, cute look. Sure you're from the craftworlds and I'm from Commorragh, but we're still kindred beings, and there's not enough of us in the galaxy, so far be it from me to make things worse. So run. Run now, before I change my mind."

Jalith licked the blade of his knife to punctuate his demand, and motioned for Reavmon to get off of her. The canine obeyed, and Jalith watched as the girl got to her feet, not looking as strong anymore. Spirimon gave all he had to support her and the pair walked away, hoping against all they knew that Jalith wouldn't break his word.

"I don't think it was wise…" Sediba said as he got to his feet.

"It's not about logic." Jalith replied. "It's about fear." He breathed in deeply, as if he smelled something sweet, before spitting in disgust.

"What?" Scarabmon asked.

"Don't bother with me, we've got better things to worry about." Jalith replied.

"Like what?" Sediba asked.

"It's time I gave that human payback for his humiliation."