I Won't Let The Boogeyman Come

[Guest]

Side Note: This is going to be a bit of a read. I discussed it with Ross, and he believes as much as I do that this will give way more detail to Randolph and give an explanation for why he's developed the mindset he has now. The setting is the village/military outpost that he desecrated sometime after his initial awakening.

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Randolph wiped his hair from his face as he slowly walked away from the mangled bodies and beaten Jeep. As he walked he looked at his hands, shaking. Why had he attacked them? The woman had been so kind, only checking to see if he was alright... and then he struck her and her allies down without a second thought. The blood was all over him, he needed to wash himself.

Leaving from the main road, he walked back into the forest. He couldn't shake their faces from his head as he knelt next to the stream to wash his hands. Removing his jacket and shirt, he scrubbed them as best he could within the cold waters with a stone. Soon the cloth had but a slight stain, but he was forced to throw the jacket to the side.

Ringing out his shirt, he allowed the water to beat down upon his face. It felt great and cooled his body, but he knew nothing would wash his crime from him. Standing back up, he pulled the wrinkled and still wet shirt over him as he made his way back to the road. He payed no mind to the cracking leaves and sticks beneath his feet. Would it matter if he was found now? If he could do something like that to a human, he should have no fear of attackers. At least... none that he knew of.

His trek continued, the sun shining down clearly upon him as the clouds moved. Soon he could make out a sign in the distance. As he approached it, he found the lettering which was once there to be illegible now; bullet holes and cuts were splattered across the wooden surface. Something had happened to wherever it was he was heading.

Another mile he walked, and the village could be seen in the distance. Smoke bellowed from the center of it, and gunfire could be heard. A raid? Was it Amestrian military or an attack from the northern country? Hearing a car coming from behind, the man jumped into the foliage as it flew by. The Amestris crest was emblazoned on the side of the vehicle, proving it to be the former of his hunches.

He left the forest again, and approached the guards stationed at the entrance. They seemed confused to see the man arrive on foot, and asked him his name.

"Randolph... Randolph Styxx. I am merely crossing through, I was hoping to find shelter here."

"Crossing through? From where? That road doesn't lead to anywhere for miles!"

"I don't exactly know to tell the truth. You see, I..."

The soldier then interrupted him, shoving his gun into Randolph's stomach. Not too hard, but with enough force to make his point clear. They didn't want him in here for some reason.

"Well then..." He then kicked the soldier's weapon away, and with a sweep he struck the other guard down. "I'll just be on my way."

Randolph then ran into the town, not looking back at the two dumbfounded militants. By the time they took chase, he had already ducked off into an alleyway. He was safe for now, but they would continue to search. The chimera then felt a tug at his shirt, breaking his thoughts. Looking down, he saw a young boy. Dirty, his black hair sprawled every which way, he was wearing rags.

"Mister... do you have anywhere to stay?"

The child had good intentions. He took Randolph into his "home". It wasn't much more than a small broken down house near the surrounding walls of the village. Apparently no one had taken the time or effort to restore it since the military had made this place an outpost. The child spoke of the deaths of his parents by the military's hands when they tried to resist their forces. He had seen and been through too much for a child to bare.

He told Randolph about how they had came here from Ishval when he was just a baby. They had relatives in the town, but now they had already moved away. He was an orphan now, and was forced to steal in order to even eat. A child in nearly the same position as Randolph at this point.

They slept that night, the chimera standing guard next to the door. Randolph watched the moon from the wooden chair, his crimson eyes glowing in the luminescence. Tears fell from those orbs, and the snow began to blanket the ground. He sat there crying the entire night until he finally slept, his dreams of that child and what he imagined his family to have been like. A past he could have had once...

Randolph awoke upon the floor that morning, a blanket full of holes laid over him. Rising he saw the boy standing there, arms outstretched before him.

"He didn't do anything! I won't let you take him!" The child shouted. Without warning the soldier fired, taking the boy's life. Randolph's eyes stretched open, his smiled fading for the first time. The lifeless body of the boy fell to Randolph's knees, and he knelt there, only looking down at him. His face was happy; calm. He had died protecting the one he had taken in. He had died trying to save a monster...

"Lay your head down, child... I won't let the boogeyman come. Count the bodies like sheep... to the rhythm of war drums..." He said, moving the black hair from his pale face and closing his eyes with his fingers. The soldier stepped forward and shouted, but Randolph ignored him. Wrapping the corpse within the blanket, he then turned, standing.

"Pay no mind to the rabble."