Hey there! Tenth chapter! YAY! And 65 reviews! Wow. Thanks for reviewing: WereCatsRule, Darth Rane, She-Who-Has-A-Very-Long-Name, Hawkfire360, and Syal Skywalker!
She-Who-Has-A-Very-Long-Name: You can still donate random fire to help me burn Edward!
Syal Skywalker: Thank you for your donation, and thank you again for reviewing!

Hey guess what? I own ALL of this! Ha. Not.

Heathertail and Lionblaze bid goodbye to all of RiverClan, excluding Blackclaw, of course. Mistyfoot had grown quite close to Heathertail over the past moon, and she was the closest thing Heathertail had to a pure friend in RiverClan.

"Take care, Heathertail," Mistyfoot said. Her voice shook.

"I'll be all right. Please don't worry about me."

In contrast, Berrynose and Lionblaze weren't exchanging such a bittersweet goodbye.

"Goodbye, Berrynose! I'm so glad I won't have to put up with you for a while!"

"I'm so glad that I won't have to put up with you for a while!"

Both toms purred happily. Nightcloud was obsessed with being overly kind to Heathertail; maybe Heathertail wouldn't see Breezepelt as such a loser if his mother was acting creeper-ish!

"Heathertail, I know you're going to be gone for a while, so I have a list of things for you to bring with you! Well, let's see: Here are some crayons, in case you get bored; and here's a key… I don't know what it's for, but it might be useful; and some play-dough; oh, and here's some angry eyes!"

Nightcloud pushed the crayons, plastic key, play-dough, and the angry eyes she had found in Breezepelt's Mr. Potato Head set to Heathertail.

"Oh, and I almost forgot! Here's a set of teeth. Be careful, they chatter!"

The set of teeth were Stonestream the elder's dentures. Heathertail stared at the small pile of random things Nightcloud had given her.

"Um… wow, Nightcloud. I really don't know what to say…"

"Oh, just 'thank you' will suffice!"

"Well, then, thank you, Nightcloud, for your… special gifts."

"Are you ready?" Lionblaze asked, still jubilant from the knowledge of being away from Berrynose for however long.

Heathertail nodded.

"Yes, we just need to carry these gifts from Nightcloud."

Lionblaze picked up half of the odd objects, and Heathertail picked up the rest.

"Goodbye, everyone!" Heathertail said. The goodbye was muffled, but comprehensible.

She and Lionblaze then embarked on the weirdest and most eventful journey of their lives. The last cat Lionblaze heard as they left the RiverClan camp was Breezepelt.

"Mom! Where are my Mr. Potato Head's angry eyes?"

Once the two cats were out of eyesight and earshot of the Senate, Heathertail dropped the things she was carrying.

"Okay, the first thing we're doing on this journey is losing this… stuff."

Lionblaze set down what he was carrying as well.

"I agree." He paused. A look of disgust spread across his face. He swiped his tongue over his teeth. "Aw! This play-dough isn't the edible kind!"

Heathertail became impatient quickly.

"Come on! We need to get going if we want to get there before dark!"

Lionblaze nodded.

"All right."

The two began to walk a little bit more.

"So," the tom said, "how did you end up being a Senator? Didn't you like being Queen?"

"Well, as the Queen of Naboo, I could only serve for so long. Yes, the people did want me to stay longer, but I was kind of… tired of it. It was such a huge responsibility, you know? At times, I really couldn't handle it."

"Isn't being Senator the same, though?"

"Kind of, but it's almost… less lonely. In the Senate, you get other Senators to back you up. True, I had advisors as Queen, but in the Senate, you can have almost anybody… We must be here!"

Lionblaze and Heathertail approached a rocky clearing. There was a small stream running nearby, and the scent of prey flooded into the two cats' nostrils.

"Oh! Prey! I'm starving!" Heathertail exclaimed, picking up a scent trail and dashing as fast as she could after it. Lionblaze stared after her.

Heathertail came back soon with a rabbit clenched between her jaws.

"I caught a rabbit," she said. "Would you like to share it with me?"

"Sure."

Lionblaze and Heathertail crouched down to eat the rabbit. It had a warm, juicy taste.

"How long did it take you to learn how to catch rabbits?"

"Not that long. But I did have to start out with the older ones. I guess it would the same for you with forest prey?"

Lionblaze nodded.

"You're right."

He paused.

"Can I ask you a question? Have you ever been in love?"

Heathertail looked up from eating the rabbit, alarmed.

"What? I… I don't think I'm at liberty to answer that!"

"I'll tell you if you tell me."

"Wait… aren't Jedi not supposed to fall in love?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean that we don't."

Heathertail breathed slowly.

"Well… yes. I have."

"Currently?"

"I… I'm not sure right now."

"I feel the same way."

"Why are you asking all this?"

Lionblaze shook his head.

"I don't know. It just… seems… right?"

He leaned forward and pressed his muzzle to Heathertail's flank. Heathertail pressed against him, but then she stopped rigidly. She took a step back.

"No! Lionblaze, I shouldn't have done that!"

Lionblaze was very, very embarrassed.

"Sorry."

Heathertail looked back at the rabbit.

"Are you done eating?"

Lionblaze hadn't been done, but he had just lost his appetite.

"I'm fine."

Heathertail turned away, picked up the carcass, and went off to bury it. Meanwhile, Lionblaze was scolding himself.

Mouse brain!

In ThunderClan, much to Brackenfur's dismay, the TV had been moved temporarily. Jayfeather, Hollyleaf, Whitewing, and Birchfall had moved it, and in its place they had set up a table for their ultimate Apples to Apples tournament. Most unfortunately (for Brackenfur, at least), the tournament would last the entire day. Mace Brambleclaw would be the judge and announcer.

The dark tabby tom stood on the High Ledge, preparing to cover the entire tournament.

"All right, everybody," he began, "the fun is about to start! Please welcome: Jayfeather!"

Jayfeather jogged out of some shadows, wearing a black, Muhammad Ali-like boxing robe. He jogged in place and pumped his fist while the Jedi chanted his name.

Brambleclaw continued, "Hollyleaf!"

Hollyleaf came out of other shadows, donning a light green boxing robe. The Jedi chanted her name as well, but possibly not quite as enthusiastically as they had for Jayfeather.

"Whitewing!"

Whitewing walked forward, only somewhat excitedly; she wore a pink boxing robe. The rest of the cats in the hollow cheered for her.

"Aaaand… Birchfall!"

Birchfall wasn't wearing a boxing robe, and he blandly dragged himself to the table. Politely, the Jedi clapped.

"Now, let's go over the rules of winning! First player to get eight cards wins!"

Jayfeather and Hollyleaf were seated at the table with the most pensive looks on their faces; Whitewing and Birchfall looked bored. And then the game began.

Meanwhile, back at the middle of nowhere, Lionblaze and Heathertail weren't feeling awkward at all for two cats who were supposed to be "just friends," but one of them wanted to profess his undying love for the other! Instead, they walked around in the grass and hunted prey together.

"So… you and Breezepelt…" Lionblaze started.

Heathertail scoffed.

"Ugh. He's a moron."

"And his mom…"

"I know!" Heathertail laughed. "I think that she thinks I'll love her son if she kisses up to me!"

"Would it work?"

"No." She paused. "But if Breezepelt stopped acting like a mouse brain and became a little kinder, I might like him then."

Lionblaze scowled.

Heathertail continued, "He's not a shabby-looking cat. He has such thick fur and lovely amber eyes…"

"Okay, I get it," Lionblaze growled. "Wait… I have amber eyes, too!"

"You do," acknowledged the light brown tabby. "And I find your eyes very lovely, too."

Lionblaze tripped over nothing and fell on his face. Heathertail burst out laughing.

"Smooth move there, Grace!"

Lionblaze playfully cuffed his old friend around the ear after he stood again.

"Hey!"

Heathertail shrugged.

"Well…"

Desperate to change the subject, Lionblaze said, "I don't get the Senate."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't get how it works. Well, I know how it works, but personally, the system doesn't really get much done, does it?"

"Well, how should we do it, then?"

"Discuss the problem, agree on a solution, and then actually go out and enact it!"

"Lionblaze, that's what we do. Just some cats—like Blackclaw, for example—don't cooperate, and we can't really agree. That hinders us from enacting what we do. But we try our best."

"Um, yeah, okay."

Heathertail paused.

"You're teasing me!"

"No, I'm not."

"Yes you are, you cheeky little tom!"

Heathertail pounced teasingly on the golden cat and pinned him down.

"Pinned ya."

"I wasn't ready!"

Lionblaze fought to get to his paws, and he and Heathertail began to play-fight around the field. Heathertail was victorious again.

"Pinned ya again."

Lionblaze hissed jokingly.

"Good for you, then. Now let me up."

Heathertail let him up, and they both collapsed to the ground, purring with laughter.

In the ShadowClan camp, Darth Toadfoot ran around the perimeter of the camp while Count/Darth Rowanclaw hovered over him with a megaphone.

"Come on! Faster! Run like you mean it!"

Beads of sweat rolled down Toadfoot's pelt, even though cats can't sweat.

Rowanclaw screamed into his megaphone, "FASTER, YOU LAZY LUMP!"

The lazy lump, however, did not speed up, and in fact stopped running altogether.

"I… can't! Too… much… Have… to try… something… else…" he panted.

"Front and center, then! Now, I want two hundred push-ups!"

Toadfoot stared.

"What…?"

"You heard me! Push-ups! Go!"

Toadfoot groaned.

Why can't Blackstar be here right now? WHY OH WHY DOES THE SENATE HAVE TO BE SO UNSTABLE?

And then, as if he had heard Toadfoot's mental plea, Blackstar appeared in the center of camp randomly.

"Now, now, Count Rowanclaw," he said. "Don't try to strain poor Darth Toadfoot. He's not even a Sith; he's just a weird general with really bad asthma!"

Darth Toadfoot coughed.

"Anyways," Blackstar continued, "I am finding that my plan for world domination is working. Blackclaw was able to chase off Heathertail, and she won't be able to help falling head over paws for Lionblaze. Once they become mates, I will send Lionblaze a dream, a dream so helpless and dark he won't even have to think twice about joining us!"

The two other cats did a victory lap around the camp, even though Darth Toadfoot was immensely exhausted from his workout with Rowanclaw that had lasted since sunrise. It was now sunhigh. Instead of running like an idiot around camp, Blackstar laughed evilly very, very loudly.

(The Middle of Nowhere)

Heathertail and Lionblaze were dragging a mouse back to their fancy makeshift camp when they heard an evil laugh sounding from the lake. They paused.

"It sounds like Blackstar," Heathertail commented dubiously. Then both cats shook their heads.

"Nah… Couldn't be."

:D So how do you like it? Meh, a little too much LionxHeather fluff. Oh well. Announcement Time!

1. My best friend, Daydreamer897, has a Warriors story that doesn't get many hits and reviews, but it's REALLY good. It's called "Life As We Knew It." PLEASE check it out!
2. Vote on my poll before I post the next chapter to help me decide who wins the Apples to Apples tournament!
3. REVIEW!

~Katie~