Main theme: Metro Exodus rap by Jt Music, featuring Andrea Storm Kaden
Theme: Excerpt From The Hope from the Destiny soundtrack
Amidst the chaos and turbulence of the Second Great War, the people of Vale stood silent, and held their breath.
The Grimm, in all of their fresh new forms and formations, in all of their armies and malicious forces, could show up on the doorstep of their city at any moment. They could topple their walls with their swords and rifles, and spray hot lances of fire into the crowds within, burning them to death, searing their skin and flailing them, skinning them alive and wearing them like trophies. A fleet of alien airships all the way from the Grimmlands could appear right over their heads at any minute, ready to fire white hot death down onto their heads without a second thought.
They looked to the skies, to the fleet of friendly ships casting their shadows over them. They looked to Beacon, to the den of survivors and adventurers, and felt that held breath begin to slip away. There were people doing their part. There were defenders licking their wounds, and readying their lances and spears, preparing to turn them on the Grimm, no matter what form they take, by tooth and claw, ready to fight to the bitter end if it only meant that mankind could survive for just another second.
But still, it did not alleviate the fear that the Grimm would come charging into the city at any given moment...
However, as the panic of the first few weeks of the Second Great War simmered and cooled, and the grieving of those with families finally passed their unworkable zeniths, that breath of fear was finally released from them, and a strange sense of normalcy finally returned to them.
And so, in the chaos of the opening stages of the next global conflict, the people of Vale found hope in something new, yet old at the same time: Their daily routines.
In workshops and ordinary shops, woodcutters carved and sanded smooth figurines and panels of hardwood, whilst metal workers made sheets of flat metal, the 2 different types of workers commingling together to work on chairs and tables with each other. Cashier workers bantered with their customers as they traded goods and hardware. Some shops made due with string and cloth, sowing together everything from slapdash shirts and socks, to fine dresses made of silk and only the finest fabrics.
Down into the newly made slums these goods went, their journey there short, yet long. Sheets of metal and plaster wood were brought together to make makeshift huts and houses. Chairs and tables were worked together in these slums, and candles and lamps were worked into patterns and flowing lines between these rows and rows of slapdash accommodations.
The new arrivals into the city- The ones to live in these slums- Worked with their new city dwelling neighbours to polish and sandpaper the sides and edges of this new flatbed of real estate. Man and woman, Faunus and human, worked together to make this place flourish and prosper.
Not a comment was made about a extra pair of ears or arms. Not a comment was made as to the colour of another's skin, or what was on their chest or on their pelvis. A sense of unity overcame them as they tinkered and toyed with the changing world around them.
Then, the night came, and the festivities began. Makeshift restaurants gave their new patrons bowls of salad and soups, and filled the air with their sweet and savoury hypnotic aromas. Children commingled together and painted their new homes as traders shared clothes and toys with one another. Couples danced in the streets as rainbow coloured lamps lit up the night sky, and lovers shared beds and danced the night away in their own ways, making love and kissing and caressing and sharing in each other's aromas and arousals.
In the streets, music played and people bantered, singing away in groups big and small. Children looked up into the starry sky and tried to count them all. Merriment and cheer filled the air as people danced and danced and danced. Some chose to stay in their new homes, mourning all that was lost, either on their own or with the company of their loves ones not yet lost. Others turned to dancing in the street, tapping their feet away until all the sadness within them was washed away by the newfound joys of others and themselves.
For the people of Vale, life continued on, because that was the only thing that it could do.
Because in the darkest of times, all that people need to look to...
Is each other.