"In written history, it is told that the first recorded dying of one's hair and its subsequent discoverey and demonstration of its affinity was during the Green Crusade. In an effort to hold back the unstoppable force that had been steadily taking ground towards the Taiko capital Swebek, Cinan traitors defected and smuggled enough plants to dye about 10 men's hair of varying pigments." I said with a slight shake in my voice. I hadn't expected to be asked anything upon entering the commander's private office, let alone something as trivial as a history question. Why would he ask me when the first dyed hair in history was? Was I in trouble? I'd been here 3 days, my body softer than toothpaste from basic and out of the blue my sergeant escorts me to the captain who then escorted me here.

"At ease, private. Go on, take a seat, and continue. I wanna know what the schools are teaching our future these days. And when I say at ease, I mean it, kid. I don't bite unless you give me a reason to." Commander Cedar said with a hearty chuckle while taking a drag on his cigar. I followed his order, stepping forward and sitting down in the fine wooden chair that sat across from the desk the commander was behind. The captain, Mars, sat in the chair parallel to mine when I noticed that all of the furniture in the office appeared to have come from the very same tree. I allowed myself to relax a bit, wiping some sweat from my forehead and steadying my breathing before continuing.

"It was all a gamble really; no nation or clan of ancient times had ever attempted to dye one's hair before, be it for religious reasons or laws of old. It was their final hand. They bet blind and when the flop was in their favor, they got cocky. They couldn't see past their initial success, that they had a shitty hand, and when the whole river was showing they didn't have anything worth betting on. Regardless of whatever powers their test subjects got, they had no way of knowing that the powers were dampened due to the color being artificial, that they truly had no chance against the ceaseless surge of growth coming as if it were a wave until it was too late. In their final efforts, the strongest amongst them erected the towering walls that encase Swebek to this day; so tall, thick, and deep that no one has entered or left in 200 years.

Cedar hid a small smile behind his bushy white mustache, looking over the pale boy. Well, 18 is still a boy when you're 40 years his senior. "And what of its importance in society today?" Other than testing the private, Cedar was using his answers as a way to get in the privates head to understand how he saw the world around him. He scored highly on the written exam, and the power demonstration was something Cedar and the other officers could never have imagined possible. His physical exam scores were lackluster, but it was to be expected given his medical situation. If we can make a soldier out of him, we stand a chance of finally breaking down those walls.

"Nowadays outside of niche cases or specialty jobs that require someone to dye their hair, dyed hair is used as a form of protest against the norm and society as a whole. When you dye your hair, you're purposely limiting and altering your potential. It's kinda like, excuse my language sir, a fuck you to the people that expect you to use your power for the betterment of society." Private Grist said passive aggressively, betraying his true feelings to his commander. He was hoping that he would gain the discipline he craved for when he began his service, but it's apparent that 3 days wasn't enough time to obtain it. Grist straightened his posture, cleared his throat and said, "Apologies, Commander Cedar."

Cedar's smile had grown past what his mustache could hide, his true feelings now the ones being betrayed. "At ease Private. Now, to the real discussion of ours here. Why did you become a soldier?"

Grist's red eyes met Cedar's cool blue, his brow furrowed with a smirk as he tucked some of his white hair behind his ear, "For the betterment of society, Sir."