Tide's eyes stared at me questioningly, and I whipped my head back to the crack, expecting the stranger to tell us who he was. He couldn't hope of escaping now, not with two cats awake and battle-ready.

But nobody was there. For a moment, I stood bewildered as I searched the empty space where the eyes had been with a questioning gaze. Now halfway inside the crack, I realised that it in fact opened into a small cave, sandy-floored like the hollow, and walled with mossy stone, badly cracked as if spider's webs grew on its surface.

'I thought...never mind.' My mind swam with confusion as I stuttered out the words. How could I have imagined those eyes? They had felt so real, so alive. How could my brain have conjured up such an illusion? But then again, it was morning; I was still a little tired, I supposed, despite the only emotions prevalent being confusion, worry, and a touch of fear.

Tide brushed his pelt against mine, his amber eyes glowing with understanding. 'Don't worry, mouse-brain,' he purred. 'You've just gotten up, and we've travelled a long way.' Then he looked inside the cavern properly, and mewed appreciatively. 'Look at this place!' He wandered around the rounded space in a circle, staring up at the shallow rock ceiling, pawsteps echoing hollowly against the shattered walls. He stuck his muzzle in one of the wider slits, and sneezed, rocking backwards and almost tripping.

I purred in amusement, and walked over, tapping him on the nose with my tail-tip. 'Now whose the mouse-brain?' But Tide wasn't listening; he licked his whiskers cautiously, then began sniffing the air, before burying his nose again in the exact same spot. He withdrew once again, though not so violently, and as he turned to face me, his eyes were shining with unanswered questions. 'Can you smell that?'

I reluctantly sniffed the air near the opening, ears twitching as I picked up a familiar scent. 'No...it can't be...' I carefully inserted a paw in the hole, and drew it out again, staring down at what lay speckled on my pad.

Poppy seeds! 'Mother used to give us these to help us sleep.' My voice showed my bewilderment as I stretched out my paw to show Tide. He looked almost solemnly down at the seeds, eyes shadowed with memories of kithood and Mother as he replied.

'But how could they have gotten here?'

Remembering the dips in the ground, and the worn floor, I created the answer almost immediately. 'Somebody must've put them in here. But why?'

'I don't know.' The eyes, and now this; the morning was getting more and more confusing. The mysteries weighed heavily on my mind as I reached back into the store and tapped the dots back where they belonged. I could've just rubbed them off on the ground, but it didn't seem right. Some cat had put them there for a reason.

'What are you flea-pelts doing in this smelly old cave?' Breeze's voice startled me out of my quiet little reverie, and I turned to see her at the mouth of my discovery, fur rumpled with sleep and eyes glinting with humour.

'Who're you calling flea-pelt?' mewed Tide crossly, but it was a half-hearted attempt at his usual good nature, and Breeze looked suspiciously at him, before asking, 'What's wrong?'

The midday sun shaded Breeze's fur silver as she sat nosed Tide's side gently. 'Tide? You okay?'

'Uh...um, yeah.' Tide blinked his way out of his reverie, then looked up into his sister's face. 'Just...thinking.'

I went over to his other side, and added my comforting purr. We all knew that Mother's death had hit Tide worse than Breeze and I. He had always been the most eager for a story, the one always by her side, eyes shining up at her, drinking her every word. Helping her the most when she got older, more frail; always ready with a paw to steady her, and guide her to a feather-filled nest. The one who tried every healing herb under her passed-down knowledge to save her from her sickness. And now she was dead. The reminder of the poppy seeds, despite being a small one, had shaken him.

I nudged him to his feet. 'Come on, let's go and hunt.' His stomach growled in agreement, and a real smile crossed his face again, before the old spirit of my brother came back in a hefty thump to my side, and a call over his shoulder. 'Bet I catch the most prey!'

'You're on.' I murmured, before running after him. But his despondent face flashed into my mind as I ran, and as I picked up speed, I couldn't quite help but wonder if my brother was quite as cheerful as he seemed.

Awww, no, guyzz D: I can haz reviews? I know I'm a new author, but if I don't get any reviews, you make me vair vair unhaps. Pleaaassee?

Anyway, looks like Tide is feeling pretty bad about his mother's death. What is he really thinking? And what will they find on their first hunting trip on the moors? Remember to R&R!