-Clueless Navigation-

  The sand was cold beneath Sen’s boots, its fine grains whispering against the leather as he moved. The morning sun, low and pale on the horizon, cast long shadows across the barren expanse. Its warmth barely reached him, a weak comfort against the emptiness stretching in all directions.

  At a gnce, the terrain was featureless, dunes upon dunes, shifting and rolling like a frozen sea. The pod, his only tether to where he'd crashed, was already swallowed by the sands behind him, lost beyond the ridge. He turned back once, scanning the horizon, but there was still nothing. No signs of life. No hints of civilization. Just wind and dust.

  Sen exhaled sharply, forcing his mind to stay sharp. Panic kills. Stupidity kills faster.

  He crouched, rubbing a pinch of sand between his fingers. Fine, dry, almost weightless—there hadn’t been moisture here for a long time. The wind carried only the scent of mineral-rich dust, nothing organic. Not even the faint, decayed musk of something long dead.

  His stomach growled, a dull ache gnawing at his focus. Ignore it. Solve the first problem: Direction.

  If there were no ndmarks, he had to create his own. His eyes traced the sun’s path, following its slow ascent. But something was wrong.

  The sun’s path wasn’t straight. It climbed at an unnatural snt, a 45-degree arc skewed like a poorly drawn line across the sky. His brows furrowed. That wasn’t right. Even a different axial tilt on an alien world should still maintain a consistent path. This felt off, like the whole pnet was pying tricks on his perception.

  Sen clicked his tongue. “Fantastic. Can’t even trust the damn sky.”

  He adjusted his approach. If he couldn’t rely on the sun, he’d have to trust the terrain instead. Higher ground was always the best bet. If there was water, shelter, or anything alive, it would reveal itself from the top of a ridge.

  His boots dug into the loose sand as he climbed the nearest rise, breath steady but measured. The wind picked up slightly, carrying a change not in scent, but in weight. The air was denser. He paused, inhaling deeply. Moisture. It wasn’t strong, but it was there. The kind of dampness that clung to underground reservoirs, hidden beneath yers of rock.

  Sen’s pace quickened. If he was right, then there was something ahead.

  As he crested the ridge, the view ahead stopped him in his tracks.

  A chasm stretched before him, a jagged wound in the earth, its depths swallowed in shadow. The cliffs on either side loomed high, their sandstone walls weathered by centuries of erosion. It wasn’t visible from the distance, likely obscured by the heat haze, the shifting sands, or whatever screwed-up optical tricks this pnet pyed.

  Sen took a moment to breathe and exhale deeply. (If this pce has no water I am screwed)

  Without hesitation, he started his descent.

  -Breath of the Desert-

  As Sen carefully made his way down into the dark abyss of the canyon, a nice, cool breeze hit him, bringing along the subtle smell of wet soil. It was a huge relief compared to the bzing desert outside, finally giving him a break from the relentless dryness that had been his annoying sidekick.

  "Guess there's gotta be some water around here," Sen grumbled.

  As the canyon walls closed in, Sen noticed a dark gap in the towering rock.

  It wasn’t anything fancy, just a narrow crack rather than a proper cave, but it promised some much-needed shelter from the harsh weather.

  Feeling a mix of fear and excitement, Sen moved toward the opening, his eyes adjusting to the dim light inside.

  The air that seeped out was cool and stale, with a slight hint of dampness. His heart raced as he bent down to enter, the tight space wrapping around him like a snug bnket.

  Once inside, he was surprised by how roomy it was, extending several meters before fading into darkness.

  Sen scanned the rough walls, noticing there were no exits or signs of anyone having been there recently. It was a natural cave, untouched by people, a hidden refuge in the brutal desert.

  Taking a wobbly step into the cave, his boots scraped against the gritty, sandy ground. With no sunlight around, his other senses kicked into high gear, making him hyper-aware of every little sound and smell.

  He could hear the faint dripping of water somewhere up ahead, which was a good sign—maybe a hidden water source. Just a trickle, probably, feeding into some bigger underground stream, the lifeblood of this barren pce.

  The cool, musty air wrapped around Sen like a comforting hug, a nice break from the scorching heat outside. It gave him a boost, recharging him for whatever nonsense y ahead. With each careful step, hope bubbled up inside him, fueled by the cave's hidden treasures.

  "Whatever's lurking down here, I'm gonna find it," Sen muttered, his voice barely cutting through the sound of the dripping water. "Survival might actually be possible."

  As Sen trudged deeper into the twisted cave, the darkness closed in like a bad joke, snuffing out any hint of light.

  He clumsily groped around, trying not to facepnt on the bumpy ground, forced to use his other senses since his eyes were useless.

  The air felt like a wet bnket, heavy with the stale smell of damp rock and a silence that was older than time.

  Every little noise was like a shout in the dead stillness—the crunch of gravel underfoot, the faint trickle of water somewhere, and the thumping of his own heart echoing in his ears.

  "Almost there," Sen muttered to himself, squinting like that would somehow help him see through the pitch-bck void.

  As Sen's hands roamed over the cave's jagged walls, they unexpectedly hit a patch of soft greenery. He stopped dead in his tracks, his fingers feeling the small clump of moss stubbornly sticking to the wet rock.

  "Moss?" Sen croaked, disbelief dripping from his voice. "In this hellhole?"

  Moss needs moisture, humidity, and, above all, a nearby water source. If it was growing here, there had to be a hidden underground river or pool somewhere.

  As Sen's hands roamed over the weirdly glowing pnts pstered on the cave wall, he came to a screeching halt, completely entranced by the bizarre scene. These tiny, fragile life forms, barely the size of his thumb, pulsed with a soft glow, throwing an eerie light on the gloomy rock around him.

  Their mere presence screamed that this cave was something special, a little world where life somehow managed to thrive in the most brutal conditions.

  "This pce is wild," he murmured. "Who knew anything could survive here, let alone light up like a freakin' nightlight?"

  But these glowing pnts weren’t just for show. They were like little lighthouses, guiding him forward and maybe even pointing him to the water source he was hunting for.

  As Sen trudged along the glowing pnt path, they got more intense and brighter, dragging him further into the cave. The soft blue-green light threw a weird glow on the walls, exposing all sorts of fancy mineral patterns and ancient rock junk.

  With every step, the air felt thicker, warmer, and smelled like a wet cloth. Sen's heart raced as he caught a whiff of water nearby, making him forget all about his thirst and exhaustion for a second.

  The pnts finally led him to a big room, where the ceiling vanished into darkness. In the middle, a sparkling pool of water mirrored the glowing pnts, sending colorful ripples dancing around the cave.

  For a split second, Sen just stood there, soaking in the sight of this liquid wonder in a dry hellhole. Then, with a gasp that sounded like he was dying, he lunged forward and dropped to his knees at the water's edge.

  With trembling hands, Sen cupped the cool, clear water and brought it to his lips, the liquid a divine balm on his parched throat. He gulped it down greedily, the refreshment spreading a tingling sensation throughout his dry mouth and scratchy tongue.

  Reluctantly, he withdrew, watching as rivulets of water trailed down his cheeks and chin, a stark contrast to the dust-caked, salt-stiffened skin he was accustomed to. He closed his eyes, relishing the simple pleasure of cleanliness, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten.

  A wave of calm washed over him, a brief break from the endless crap he’d been dealing with on this brutal pnet.

  For the first time since he crash-nded on this godforsaken rock, Sen let himself chill out.

  After sking his thirst, Sen's attention turned to the matter of sustenance. His rumbling stomach served as a harsh reminder that it had been hours since his st meal, if indeed he'd eaten at all after the crash nding.

  He scanned the cavern, his gaze roaming over the alien ndscape. The glowing pnts seemed to be the only viable food source in sight, and Sen wondered if they were edible or merely decorative.

  Carefully, he reached out and plucked one of the smaller specimens from the wall. The stem was brittle, breaking easily between his fingers as he brought the pnt to his nose. It emitted a faint, slightly sweet aroma, nothing overpowering.

  Encouraged, Sen took a tentative bite, chewing slowly to assess the fvor and texture. The leaves were crunchy, with a subtle tang that bordered on bitterness. Not unpleasant, but hardly satisfying either.

  "I guess this'll have to do," he said grimly, resigned to his fate.

  Time dragged on in the cramped cave, where survival was the name of the game. Sen had a routine that was all about exploring, hunting, and staying alive. Every morning, he crawled out of his makeshift bed and plunged into the twisting tunnels, hunting for those glowing pnts that were his only food source.

  The trek was dangerous, with tight spots hiding threats ready to pounce. More than once, Sen barely dodged the deadly grip of snakes, their sharp fangs shining in the dim light as he searched for his next meal.

  But the instinct to live pushed Sen forward. He sharpened his hunting skills in this strange pce, picking up on the signs of what he could eat - the soft rustle of wings, the crack of branches, and the unique calls of creepy-crawly insects.

  As the weeks dragged on, Sen's body got used to the bare-bones diet. His muscles were wasting away but still had some tone left. He moved more efficiently, his reflexes sharper from always being on guard against the deadly beasts lurking in the cave's shadows.

  Even with all the crap he faced, Sen found a twisted sense of peace in his lonely life. Each day blurred into the next, consumed by the need to survive. He formed a strange bond with the glowing pnts, using them for food and as a guide through the confusing tunnels.

  So, the grind of survival kicked in a mix of hunger, danger, and loneliness that became the soundtrack of Sen's new life in this godforsaken pce beneath the sands. But even as he accepted this brutal reality, a flicker of his old self lingered—a hint of the man he was before everything went to hell.