A/N: Well, ya like so far? Hope so. Now, here's Chapter 4 for ya, finally with some ACTION!!! Hope you enjoy it even if IDNOAC, except for the dove and lynx, of course!!! Oh, and before I forget, I don't believe any ghost animal was shown speaking in the show. Some people mentioned Wulf as being one who does, but remember he's a werewolf, not a 'simple, real' animal. Just a little blathering aside. Now, on to Chapter 4. Enjoy!

TrueHeart—Chapter 4—A Change in the Wind

Leisurely, the two ghost animals continued on their way. At first, they were concentrating so much on their search for a lair that they did not notice Spectra and Bertrand hurrying to catch up to them. But when the black lynx's ears perked up with the sudden detection of the approaching ghosts, he—along wih his partner---stopped dead in their tracks. He immediately reeled around with a threatening hiss, his claws ready in attack position.

Spectra gasped and suddenly halted her approach. Bertrand, not expecting her to stop, knocked right into her. But he quickly rebounded; and finally seeing that the lynx was definitely taking an aggressive stance, he quickly morphed into a large green wolf.

But the two ghost animals didn't want to fight. They were startled by these two ghosts who seem to be pursuing them, which, of course, they were. "Let us go, my love. We cannot risk it again!" the dove hurriedly whispered into the lynx's ear.

But Spectra's sharp hearing caught that short remark, and she jolted. That black ghost bird just said something! She was sure of it. But she couldn't be concerned about that at the moment, because that wildcat was definitely something to be more concerned about at the moment.

The ebony ghost animal snarled again at their unwelcomed greeting party, and the dove took refuge at his nape, trembling in fear. But she quickly flattened herself hard against his body; and then, gently pecked him to signal that she was ready for what he would have to do. He flitted one of his ears in return just before he turned and took rapid flight away from Spectra and Bertrand.

"Oh, no you don't!" Spectra yelled as she morphed into her Spectral form; and Bertrand, still in his wolf form, took that as his cue. He bolted right after the fleeing couple.

The lynx could hear the pursuit and doubled his efforts. At first, it seemed as if the young animal couple would be successful in their escape. The lynx had the advantage. His small, but strong and lithe, stature helped lengthened their distance between Bertrand and themselves. But as the ghost animals delved more into this unfamiliar area of the Ghost Zone, the lynx had to slow down in order to avoid a lot of unexpected obstacles. He zigzagged as quickly as he could, barely avoiding the green or purple floating doors or shelves as he continued forward. But as it became more and more apparent that they were still being pursued and could not yet stop, the dove, which could only hold onto the lynx's back with her beak and feet, began to lose her grip as his movements became more erratic in his attempt to try to shake their tracker.

The dove tried with all her might to hang on, but finally, she just didn't have the strength. Her beak unwillingly released its hold, and just as she screamed in fear, her feet followed suit.

The black wildcat, of course, both felt and heard what had happened and immediately twisted himself violently back toward her direction.

But by the time he had been successful in his move, he froze in mid-flight at the sight right in front of him. Bertrand, still in his wolf shape, had the dove within his sneering jaws and was eagerly clamping down upon her.

Incensed, the lynx snarled aggressively; but right now, he knew he could do nothing. He did not want to endanger his love any further. Still, he produced his claws and readied himself.

At first, Bertrand was tempted to let the dove go and attack the little wildcat who dared to threaten him. Instead, he smiled wickedly and clamped even harder on the dove. She screeched in immense pain. Bertrand frowned as to why the cry coming from this creature sounded human, but he kept the dove secured within his maw nevertheless.

The lynx felt her blood-curdling scream tear at his spine. He was about to cry for mercy and yield, when a large purple-and-black door unexpectedly floated toward Bertrand and rammed him right in the side of his head. That, of course, surprised the green wolf and he unconsciously dropped the bird, who immediately soared away from her attacker as quickly as her injured left wing allowed her.

That was all that the lynx needed. He pounced upon the wolf and tore into him. Claws upon claws and fangs upon fangs violently attacked each other as the green wolf and black wildcat grappled. Their bone-chilling yowls and roars melded into a terrorizing echo which brutally assaulted the surrounding Ghost Zone.

Again, the lynx seemed to have the slight advantage. He could evade the wolf's paws more easily and more often; and found many small vulnerable spots that the wolf carelessly left open for attack. The last one he found made the wolf howl with pain and fury.

But the wolf had the advantage in size. After many failed attempts, his powerful paws finally got their chance and swiped at the small wildcat, making firm contact and momentarily stunning him. The dove shriek at the sight, but the wolf didn't hear her as he pounced upon his smaller adversary.

Yet, the lynx did not relent. With a hiss, he ferociously went right for the wolf's throat and plunged his sharp fangs into it. Bertrand shrieked in pain as his ectoplasm throbbed out of his wound. However, his morphing ability instantly cut off the rent in his neck, but not his rage. He doubled his efforts and delivered a powerful blow, which sent the lynx ricocheting through the green-and-purple atmosphere, his body finally plowing into an empty green-and-black ghost shelf. The small animal lay still.

Feeling an intense fear grow within her, the dove ignored the pain shooting through her injured wing and hurried as fast as she could toward the ghost shelf. But just before she got there, she felt the wake of a large green blur as it passed her, headed right to that same shelf.

It was Bertrand, of course, advancing in his attack once more. But just as the wolf was about to swoop down upon his helpless prey, the lynx stirred and yelped as he barely avoided the wolf's angry strike. Though still weakened by the mighty punch that Bertrand had last given him, the lynx rebounded and pounced onto the wolf's back. He sank his teeth into the back of his foe's neck and the wolf wailed and bucked with the piercing bite, throwing the lynx off of him as he did. Twisting himself violently back toward the wildcat, the wolf's paw this time returned the lynx's bite with his claws, which made fierce contact. The lynx howled in pain as the force of the blow not only stung him, but threw him onto his back. The wolf quickly pinned him down with one of his front paws, and readied with the final blow with the other.

But before he could strike, Bertrand felt something heavy pound his head and he staggered before falling to his side, momentarily stunned. Still, even as he fell, his large body was able to inadvertently pin the lynx underneath it. He had not paid attention to the dove, who had managed to grasp a large stone with her feet and had dropped it above the wolf's head, trying to defend the lynx. She fell to the shelf from the effort immediately afterward, as her left wing had not recovered from the assault made by the wolf. Still, she pulled herself up and hopped toward the lynx.

In the meantime, the lynx struggled to pull himself out from under the wolf; and the dove did her best to help, though she tugged in vain at his fur with her beak.

The couple gasped when the wolf moaned; and the lynx pressed harder to free himself. Finally, he succeeded and though weakened by the fight, he motioned for the dove to get on his back once more. She cringed at his wounds but moved toward his back. But before she could hop onto him, two things happened in quick succession: the wolf fully roused and jumped to his feet, and a large purple ectoblastic energy beam suddenly struck the lynx from the side. The lynx yelped as his body absorbed the biting ray and he fell into a stupor.

The dove cried out in alarm, but before she could reach the wildcat's side or even see who or what had attacked the lynx with that energy, she felt her body swept upward once more, and then, scooped up within the hot, panting mouth of the wolf. Again, she felt the hard pressure of his angry teeth as they clamped down upon her. She reflexively closed her eyes with the pain and screamed, and the sound of it was definitely a human one.

"Wait!"

The dove thought she heard a voice's firm demand, but was she mistaken? It, too, sounded human and it sounded female. The dove opened her blurry eyes and looked through one of the small slats between the sallow wolverine bars of her hot, damp prison.

But before the dove could make out any body attached to the voice, the voice commanded once again, "Bertrand! Let it go!"

The dove couldn't know that the voice belonged to Spectra, who had given the wolf a harsh look just before admonishing him. Bertrand was squeezing the bird with a little too much relish and Spectra saw that. The dove thought that maybe the wolf was this creature's pet.

Bertrand sighed and released the dove, which immediately soared in an unbalanced flight toward the lynx. As she approached her beloved, she began to cry, fearful that he had been seriously hurt or was even dying from the heartless assault of the wolf and now this other creature. She landed right next to the lynx's muzzle and began to gently peck at it, letting her tears fall unashamedly. She did not notice that the green wolf named Bertrand once more had then closed the gap between him and them.

Spectra jolted at the sight. What was with these two ghost animals? And that dove was sobbing as a human girl would?! She slowly approached the animal couple, motioning to Bertrand to be quiet while trying not to startle the dove which now had her face buried within the fur of the senseless lynx.

The dove was so distraught at first that she hadn't noticed Spectra's approach nor that Bertrand had moved to the point that he was now too close to her and the lynx. But then, the ghost bird sensed a presence next to her and shuddered in fright when she looked upward and saw the irate eyes of the lynx's attacker again!

This time, the dove was so terrified that she had forgotten about her and her love's agreement not to speak to anyone. Before she knew it, the ghost bird screamed with her plea, "Please! Let us be! We meant no harm! But that…that wolf pursued and attacked us for no reason!" She recoiled within the fur of the still silent lynx, trying to back away from the sneer that had now formed around Bertrand's muzzle.

But she pressed on, "And my love would not have struck back had your wolf not have injured me. He meant no harm! We meant no harm! Please!"

"Your love?" Spectra gasped in surprise. "You're in love with a wildcat? And you can speak?" She then pointed to the lynx and added, "And can he talk, too? But how can that be? Ghost animals can't speak!"

The dove's eyes widened with more terror. Now she had done it! But what other choice had she had? They might have killed them both outright had she remained mute! She looked frantically, shifting her widened-eyes from the wolf, which growled at her, to the silent lynx, and then back to the black entity in front of her.

What was she going to do?