EPISODE PROLOGUE
Southeast of the Village of the Moon is a quiet village known as the Village of the Sun. This neighboring village is known to be quieter though it is an attraction location for the Star Tracker μ (Mu). Two of the village leaders are tan-brown cat with sky blue spots called Dreamcatcher, and one of her best friends who is fascinated with everything about the Dream World, Arisu. Sometimes they would escape reality when they're stressed by entering the Dream World and performing a study.
However, forwarding to the present day, Dreamcatcher runs to Arisu's home to give some news. "Hey Arisu! Arisu!" Dreamcatcher called out running in through the doorway. "I have news from the Moon's Princess, Matilda!"
Arisu yawned as she stood back up after lying down on the bed for an abnormally long time for her. "What'd she say?"
"It has to do with your former boyfriend, Lonekat. He caught sight of Leo in the Fushigina Mori. Something about the Fire Shard was spoken about it."
"You mean Lone's gonna try and go after Leo?" Arisu asked tilting her head.
"Not exactly, for the Lava Cavern Southwest of here will only open if he completes his trials, and if I guess correctly, Leo is gonna try and give him 3 or 4 trials total, one already down."
"Oh, a logic battle, how curious!"
Dreamcatcher flicked her blue and green gems about once. "What do you say we travel to the village and send Lonekat to the Dream Realm?"
"Why?" Arisu inquired. "Leo wouldn't possibly perform a trial there."
"He needs a Dreamweaver if he wants to do one, and I'm sure Flarepelt would give him a call about it. Come on!"
ACTUAL EPISODE
"Alright, alright you two, I'll do it now," Lonekat said to Longclaw and Matilda. Longclaw started snickering at how ridiculous this might end up. Thankfully they were in Lonekat's home so they don't need the extra attention from the others. Matilda gave Lonekat the dress, though he can easily recognize its pattern.
"Arisu," he said under his breath, "I'm sorry..."
"Who's Arisu?" Matilda asked as she walked up to Lonekat.
"She's an old friend of mine, and my ex-girlfriend. We had to break from each other for some time since I was heartbroken about losing another cat I cared for. My mom, dad, and sister all disappeared without a trace of where they were." Lonekat smiled. "So I guess... doing this will be for her."
Lonekat tossed the dress up in the air. As it came down he put his arms in the air letting it slide perfectly onto him. As it slipped on, his aqua arms and legs turned white and his back hair lengthened down to the center of his back. Longclaw immediately blushed and fainted while Matilda tried to absorb what happened.
"So, this must be the magic behind it," she said at last. "Perhaps it did unlock your female form Lonekat. Try saying something."
"Okay," Lonekat said but then immediately covered his muzzle after hearing not his original voice, but a Feminine voice instead. Now the cat knew for certain she's now a girl from the form switch. "Oh my... I've changed completely!"
"Guess you're not Lonekat anymore, but Lonedoe instead."
Lone thought this over. "That makes sense. Lonedoe has an interesting ring too."
Flarepelt soon entered the room. "Lonekat, can I speak wi-" he gasped at the sight of the now female cat. "You lost a bet didn't you?"
Lone giggled. "Sorry Flarepelt." She took the dress off returning back to regular male form. He cleared his throat. "What is it that you need?"
Flarepelt sweated for a moment before regaining composure. "I was sent a message from Leo."
"Wait, you mean... THE LEO? The one that set me up on that Trial of Shadows?"
Flare nodded. "You see, he set up a second trial for you in the Dream Realm and needs you there as soon as possible."
"But Flare, the only way to get into that world is by Dream Weaving, and none of us have the ability to do that."
"I do though," said a voice from outside. Lonekat walked outside to see where it came from when he laid eyes on two girls from outside the village. He instantly recognized the one wearing blue and having a cream colored pelt.
"Ari-chan..." he said softly, blushing.
"Nice to see you two," she replied waving a paw to him. "We're here to help you with your Dream Weaving problem."
"I can send you to and from the Dream Realm while Arisu can teach your wolf friend how to enter by herself," the tan-brown she-cat added.
Flarepelt looked outside asking them who they were. Dreamcatcher introduced herself, performing a small curtsy as Arisu shook Flarepelt's paw giving him the Long Time No See treatment. Matilda walked outside to see what was going on.
"Now then, I will explain to you the Dream Realm and the Trial itself set by Leo through telepathy once you get there."
Lonekat nodded. "Okay, I'm ready."
Dreamcatcher stood up on two as she placed her front left paw on her left ear and pushed her right paw out. "DREAM GATE, OPEN!" she called out.
Lonekat suddenly felt his pupils shrink as he felt like he is falling through a portal. He tried to twist his body around so he can land properly, but all he could feel was the thought he was rapidly spinning instead.
-Dream Hub, 11am-
Lonekat opened his eyes after a long fall and noticed a bunch of shops around a crossroad with other species talking and buying goods for their travels. He got up and looked around.
"This is the Dream Realm, Lonekat," Dreamcatcher's voice sounded in his head. "As long as you are here, a regular commoner, you can't use Void Spells due to the risk of disappearing forever."
"Well Dreams do have their rules, but just what is this place?" he asked back to Dreamcatcher.
"It's the Dream Hub, a place to meet others and get some shopping done. If you need a Potion to keep you healthy or an Ether to keep your magic up, there is the Cupid's Arrow shop. However there is no time to be discussing this place, just start walking and head north. Leo awaits you over by the Casino."
Lonekat turned as if to speak with someone else. "Play responsibly or get out, they say. I learned those rules by heart for a real battle myself." He walked ahead and noticed a branching path saying 'Comatose Zone, enter at your own risk.' He closed his eyes there to use his Energy Sense. He then saw the Lava Dragon appear once more.
"A place where when people enter a coma and can't wake up in the real world," it said. "When you end up crossing paths with someone here, the lust for a real form would appear and they could suddenly wake up. It is too dangerous to go here right now, so let's keep walking to where Dreamcatcher wants us to be."
Lonekat opened his eyes again and kept walking.
-Dream Casino, 11:05AM-
Lone opened the doors to the Casino noticing it is completely abandoned, all except for the Guardian, Leo, who he can instantly recognize. "Leo, I have come for my Trial. What do you want this time?" he asked.
"An island once lost here in the Dream Realm needs to be reopened as the memories stuck there have been lost within time to a certain creature. If you can exterminate the ones that are here, a portal might reappear."
"What are they? Why would they be here of all places?"
"They're Eaters, Dream Eaters to be more precise. They prey off the dreamers around here and make them comatose."
"So the Comatose Zone must be filled with people who lost to the Eaters."
"Learn to V-Link in order to beat them, we can talk about a way to save them if you're willing to do something extra special later in life." Leo disappeared and as he did, five Eaters suddenly appeared.
Lonekat got himself into a battle position ready to take them all on, but as he rushed at them, the Eaters prepared to guard themselves. Lonekat tried to use the Wind Ball but it was no use to their defenses. "Darn it!" he said, "They must have a defense against Wind Spells!" He then tried his Burn Buster as he jumped over one of the Eaters, but it blocked the spell and bounced it back. Lonekat forced his Air Shield out to cancel it out.
"Dreamcatcher, what do I do here?" Lonekat asked aloud. He tried scratching one of the Eaters as it came at him but he was countered and sent flying into a wall. "I can't seem to get through them!"
Dreamcatcher thought for a moment and looked at Flarepelt. "You need to stop time for Lonekat's sake," she said to him.
"You want me to use my Time Magic?" he asked. "You know I'm not a fan of using those spells willy-nilly."
"Lonekat needs you now. Can you spare the MP to do so?"
Flarepelt felt a shock like something hit his stomach, almost as if he could feel Lonekat getting lanced right in the same location. "L-Lone...!"
"Flarepelt, now...!" Lonekat said out loud, pinned to the wall.
"Right!" Flarepelt got into a fighting stance and waved his paw. "Jikanteido!"
Lonekat felt himself getting unpinned as the Eater prepared a blow to knock him out, however it stopped midway and time itself stopped around him. Lonekat sighed in relief. "Good grief."
Lone walked away from where he was pinned and over to a good location away from the Eaters. He closed one eye and pointed a paw at them. "I need to line this one up; I only have one shot at this." He then created a red orb with his front paws and got into his signature fighting stance. "Hissatsu."
"LAVA, DRAGON," he started and then he thrusted his paws forward, "ASSAULT!" Lonekat's blast fired and turned into the Lava Dragon itself going through all the Eaters. They couldn't feel it since time was stopped, but Lonekat settled and flicked his hair. "Saikai no Jikan," he said feeling Flarepelt waving his other paw. Time started back up again as he saw what was left of the Eaters suddenly spark and explode into Moon Shards. Lonekat put his paw out as everything settled. "Gotcha."
Lone suddenly noticed a swirling vortex appear in front of him. He jumped through it after noticing a strange island. Doing so, the Casino background disappeared around him and was replaced with a purple night sky. He looked at his surroundings noticing various orbs of different colored lights circling around the sky of the island he was on. One soon flew up to him and a memory from a month before his parents disappeared was shown in front of him.
"This was..." he tried to say but the words couldn't reach his mouth. His eyes were filled with tears as they streamed down his face as he blushed. "This was when Arisu and I broke up, when I, fell heartbroken about losing another soul I cared for. I'll make amends to her soon enough." He watched as they hugged one last time and walked their separate ways before seeing another memory.
He saw a Hyena with the same fire powers as him taking on a few Soul Stealers. He had one paw gripped tightly and sparking creating some form of a whip slashing it about. Lonekat wondered what the technique was until the words 'Fire Chain' came to mind. "I need to learn that, I can only go so far with projectile moves."
The last memory he saw was of Whiteleaf. "Now THIS is odd, I don't remember Whiteleaf telling me about this." She seemed to be at some sort-of shrine practicing her Ice Magic. He couldn't tell how powerful Whiteleaf really was at the moment so he thought it was an oracle to the future. Before he could peer into another memory he felt himself rise through some kind-of vortex into his real body and was snapped awake.
-Village of the Moon, 11:15AM-
Lonekat was breathing heavily by this point. Dreamcatcher put her paws away from the poor cat and let him stand back up. He looked around to see a slightly worried and shy Flarepelt and his old friend, Arisu, suddenly run up to him.
"Are you okay Lonekat?" she asked.
Lonekat tried to figure out what he wanted to say as he sat up, but all that came out was, "Please forgive me."
Arisu tilted her head in confusion before realizing it was about their breakup.
"I wanted you to stay safe, even if it meant taking some time away from each other."
"Lonie," she replied patting his head, "just because I'm in another village doesn't mean we can't see each other again. If you come by someday I or Dreamcatcher can show you the location of μ."
"Sounds like a plan." Lonekat stood up and hugged her. Matilda walked up to them as well. "Say, Ari-chan, Dream-chan, do you have any outfit plans I can utilize? I can put some magic on them to make accessories for battle."
Dream looked at the jewelry on her tail while Ari looked at her dress. The two then exchanged looks and then back at the Princess. "Well," they started.
"Hold on," Lonekat interrupted. "I think you should get some example ideas from Matilda first to spark some interest in what she does before you jump in on it."
Arisu chuckled nervously putting a paw behind her back.
Flarepelt then walked up to Lonekat. He took a moment to regain his composure and then smiled at him. "Sorry for the situation Leo put you in... If you ever need anything or just need to talk to me about something, give me a call."
"You're a great Second Father, Flarepelt."
Flare nodded happily. "Thank you, Lone-san."
Lonekat then flashed a peace sign to him before turning and walking back into his cottage, putting on the dress and turning into his genderswap again, closing the door behind him. (He'll be back to his normal self in the next episode, so don't worry.)