-Unreliable Sky-

  Night after night, Sen stood at the cave entrance, staring at the sky, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. But the sky stayed dark and unhelpful, giving him nothing to understand this pce or how it connected to his own life.

  There was no comforting moon to anchor him, no steady beacon to guide his way. Only an endless expanse of stars, their twinkling light distorted by the pnet's unusual atmosphere, creating an unrecognizable consteltion scape.

  And the sun... That maddening, diagonal blight in the sky continued its daily march, mocking Sen's attempts to orient himself. Day after day, the sun's bizarre trajectory stretched on, dragging out the hours in an interminable cycle of heat and light.

  Quickly he realized he was facing a major shake-up in how he viewed the universe.

  But he didn’t let the absence of any divine GPS get him down. Instead, he decided to whip up a DIY sundial, thinking it might help him figure out how long this weird pnet's day-night cycle actually sted. He grabbed some ft rocks and haphazardly set them up in a circle, marking where the sun was at different times as it awkwardly sshed across the sky.

  As days dragged on, Sen kept tinkering with his sundial, jotting down the sun’s journey and the time gaps like it was some kind of science project. Slowly, a pattern popped up, showing that the longest day dragged on for almost 20 Earth hours, while the shortest night barely hit twelve.

  Sure, this little nugget of info gave Sen a tiny bit of structure in his otherwise chaotic life, but it also hit him hard with the reality of his situation. He was stuck on a pnet with a totally messed-up rotation, a pce that ughed in the face of his attempts to figure out its bizarre rhythms.

  One evening the desert's quiet was smashed by a sudden attack—a wild sandstorm that came out of nowhere, tearing through the wastend with a force that even caught Sen off guard.

  Blinding gusts of sand hit him hard, pushing him to find cover in the nearest cave. But even the underground tunnels didn’t shield him completely from the storm's wrath. Sand crept into every gap, getting under his clothes, stinging his skin, and making it hard to breathe.

  "Hell of a welcome, world," Sen muttered, pressing against the cave wall as the storm howled outside. His words were swallowed by the chaos, just echoes bouncing off the walls.

  For what seemed like forever, the storm unleashed its fury on the nd, the freezing air and swirling sand making it tough to even take a breath.

  The storm was relentless, and the biting cold dug deep into Sen's bones, making his breath visible in the air. His teeth were chattering, and his body shook like a leaf. Even pressed against the rocky wall, he couldn't escape the brutal chill of the storm.

  With gritted teeth, Sen took a shaky look at himself. Frost was forming on his face, and his nose and lips felt numb, practically useless. The air was so frigid it seemed like it could freeze the moisture in his lungs.

  "Frostbite, hypothermia... Who knows what this is doing to me," he muttered, trying to think through the haze of cold. His hands were so frozen he could hardly feel them. How long before he couldn't move them at all?

  Time lost all sense as Sen faced the brutal pain of the relentless sandstorm. Hours and days turned into a blur while he fought against the biting cold. The cave offered little refuge, its icy stones leeching warmth from his weary body with every tick of the clock.

  Shaking violently, Sen finally crumpled to the cave floor, too drained to keep going. His eyelids drooped as he gave in to the pull of sleep, embracing the darkness like a drowning man reaching for a lifeline.

  When Sen finally woke up, he was dazed and lost, his body sore from being stuck in the freezing cold for too long. As his eyes adjusted, he noticed the storm had moved on, leaving a strange stillness behind. The cave was quiet, except for the faint sound of sand settling outside.

  Carefully, Sen pushed himself up, grimacing at the stiffness in his joints. His arms and legs felt like they were weighed down by heavy chains.

  He blinked hard, trying to shake off the fog in his head, but his thoughts were sluggish and hard to piece together.

  With a lot of effort, Sen crawled to the cave's mouth, brushing away the sand that had piled up during the storm. The air outside was still cold, but at least the biting winds were gone. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the fresh air, and exhaled slowly, trying to rex the tightness in his chest.

  As Sen stepped out of the cave, his eyes blinking furiously as they tried to get used to the dim light. The sun was low, its rays weak and choked by the thick dust cloud that hung over the wastend.

  Before him y the canyon, a bizarre mix of rusty red rocks and fine white sand. Everything looked washed out, drenched in a dull orange-gray, as if the storms that raged across the pnet had sucked the life out of the colors.

  "It's like a damn painting," Sen grumbled, squinting at the sun that was barely breaking through the dust. "Not exactly a view you'd want on a postcard."

  He scanned the horizon, hoping to spot any sign of life or movement beyond the canyon's edge. But all he found was emptiness, a never ending stretch of lifeless ground meeting the blue-green sky far off in the distance.

  Not wanting to overdo it, he crawled back into the cave, avoiding the biting cold and dusty wind as much as he could. His body was screaming from the chill, joints stiff and sore, but he kept moving, desperate for water.

  When he got to the cave's central pool, he scooped up the cool water and gulped it down like a man starved. It washed away the grime from his mouth and quenched his thirst after the hell outside.

  He kept at it, drinking repeatedly to fight off dehydration, the water easing his dry throat and giving him a bit of energy back.

  When he was feeling a bit better, Sen leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, and took a moment to regain his strength and think about what to do next.

  -A Decision Made-

  The cave was dead quiet, wrapping around him like a bnket, only interrupted by the faint sound of water trickling against the rocks. Sen sat on the floor, legs crossed, deep in thought. (It's too risky to hang around here any longer. The water's gonna run out, and I need to get my ass moving into the Canyon.)

  "I'm just sitting here waiting to kick the bucket," Sen muttered grimly, getting up."Time to move on."

  Aware that getting ready was crucial for any trip, he spent the rest of the day loading up on supplies for his upcoming adventure. He started by collecting as many glowing pnts as he could carry, knowing their light would be useful in the dark parts of the canyon.

  Next, he went after the small lizards that lived nearby to boost his food supply. His hunting skills were good enough to catch a few of these strange creatures, which he cleaned and dried in the st bit of sunlight.

  Sen worked steadily, focusing on getting things done right instead of rushing. By the time night fell, he had a solid stash of dried meat and a small bag of glowing pnts, enough to st him several days if he was careful with his portions.

  As the st bits of daylight disappeared, leaving the canyon in a creepy twilight, Sen finally hit the road. The cool night air was a nice break from the brutal heat of the day, giving him a chance to move without worrying about dehydration.

  He moved quickly but carefully, his senses on high alert as he made his way through the dark. With no moon or decent lights around, he could barely see, so he had to depend on his other senses to dodge any dangers. Each step had to be thought out.

  As he made his way through the twisting canyons, the only sounds were the crunch of gravel underfoot and the occasional distant howl in the wind. It was a lonely, isoting trek, but Sen pushed on with grim resolve, driven by the urgent need to find better resources and maybe even some signs of civilization.

  The trip was anything but easy. As Sen trudged through the endless sandy canyons, he faced a bunch of steep slopes and dunes, each one throwing its own curveballs. The sand looked soft and inviting, but it was a trap. Every step sank deeper, making it a real pain to move forward.

  The worst parts were the steep, forcing Sen to use his hands as much as his feet to cw his way up. Sand kept sliding down, trying to drag him back with every tough step. He was out of breath, muscles screaming against the pull of gravity.

  Now and then, he'd slip and lose his grip on the shaky ground. He’d curse as he hit the sand hard, palms and knees stinging from the fall. But he wasn’t about to give up; he pulled himself back up, refusing to let a little setback stop him.

  As the night dragged on, Sen's steps got heavier, his energy fading with every tough move.

  The endless stretch of sand and rock loomed ahead like a massive wall, a harsh reminder of how alone and exposed he was.

  He took breaks now and then to catch his breath, staring at the empty nd with a mix of anger and hopelessness. Where the hell was he even going? What chance did he have of finding anyone or anything in this godforsaken pce?

  Doubt ate at him, but Sen pushed it down, relying on his stubborn will to keep going. He knew that giving in to despair would only spell disaster. So he kept moving, one foot after the other, fueled by sheer grit and a flicker of survival instinct deep inside.

  As dawn broke, spilling a soft pinkish-blue light over the strange nd, Sen frantically searched for a pce to hide from the coming sun. He was dead tired and needed rest, but finding shelter was crucial to avoid overheating and total exhaustion.

  He spotted a bunch of big rocks among the sand dunes and rushed toward them.

  His legs were screaming, and his vision was fuzzy from fatigue, but he pushed through, desperate for a break.

  When he reached the boulders, Sen picked a spot that offered the best cover from the sun and flopped down onto the sand, letting out a sigh of relief. The cool stone and the quiet of his little hideout quickly pulled him into a restless sleep, even though he had to stay alert in this harsh pce.