Before Company 1, before rules and ranks and duty decided who everyone had to become, it was just summer, noise, and too much sun.

There were four stupid teenagers who were always getting into trouble. It was a hot summer day, and they decided to go to the beach just to cool off—or maybe just to cause more chaos.

Karim acted like he was in charge of everything, even when no one asked him to be. Rekka was already running toward the water, laughing too loud and splashing like the ocean was something he could win against. Huo was off to the side, digging in the sand with intense focus like he was building something important. And you were stuck in the middle of all of it, watching them like this was somehow normal.

A piece of driftwood washed up near your feet. Rekka grabbed it first and decided it was important, which instantly made it everyone’s problem. Karim said it was useless. Huo said it needed markings. No one agreed, but somehow the wood ended up being passed around anyway.

You carved first, just because someone had to start. Then Karim took it carefully, like it mattered more than it should. Rekka carved too fast and too hard, like he was trying to prove something. Huo added strange marks that didn’t really look like symbols, more like warnings.

When it was done, no one said what it meant. They just looked at it, then at each other, and for a moment it felt like something unspoken had settled between them.

The ocean kept moving like nothing had changed.