victory_road | [video]

--my gosh, fingers are so neat! First try!

[The white-haired young woman on the screen looks delighted as she waves. The Oddish in her lap also waves, but with obvious reluctance.

The Skorupi also with her also waves her little claws enthusiastically as she skitters forward. The woman's response is roughly an 'awww lookit so cute' as she scoops the Skorupi into a hug.]

Hi everybody! I'm Scorpia, and this is Emily because she reminds me a lot of a friend of mine. And, oh! Oh, everybody should meet little Perfuma too. She reminds me of another friend. Perfuma is so great, and she can control plants and flowers.

[If an Oddish could facepalm, this one would. Scorpia doesn't seem to notice, rambling on.]

Anyway, um, we just got here. Well, I just got here; Emily and Perfuma were already here. I have no idea how I got here. It's really pretty though, and I'm always excited to meet new friends.

And try out these new fingers. They're so flexible. I bet I could hold delicate things like single sheets of paper--oh, I could go bowling again!--and I can even wiggle them individually. Mostly individually.

[The last is a quick addition when she doesn't quite manage to wiggle her ring fingers without moving her middle fingers too. Her face does fall a little bit.]

I really miss my tail though. I so didn't know how hard it was to balance without one. My respect for my friends just went up so much, and it was already really high!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Having to balance without a tail is the worst.

[Catra sounds like herself. She even mostly looks like herself - the fact that she's squinting at the screen of the 'gear in an attempt to place the backdrop of Scorpia's video helps.

The backdrop of her own appears to be some sort of ruin, though it's rather less of a blasted wasteland than the sort left by the Horde.]

No one who actually knows how we got here is telling. It's really annoying.

[Scorpia's face lights up.]

Catra! Oh wow, you're here too. That's-- oh my gosh. Who are your new friends? The Pokemon are so neat.

[She's peering at the video too, but can't make out much beyond ruin. Behind her there's a fence, and she appears to be sitting in the grass near some water.]

Do we know who knows? Also, where are you? We should meet up!

So's Entrapta. We've--

[Whatever she's about to say is interrupted when a bright blue paw whumps down over the camera, nearly tipping the gear out of her hand.]

Hey!

[The 'gear tips to show a clear swathe of sky, and there's the brief sound of scuffling. When Catra returns and rights the camera, it's with a little Marill held firmly in her lap. A very smug looking Marill.]

Right. Did you just get here? I'm up in Ecruteak, but I can warp down and meet you in Cherrygrove.

[Scorpia just makes a delighted little squeak.] Oh she's so cute I just want to hug her--!

Cherrygrove? But I'm in Goldenrod. Well, we're having some fun outside the city right now, but that's where I woke up.

[Unseen by either of them, Steven drags his hand down his face. Good job, Scorpia. Busted on your first post.]

[Rill! the Marill chirps, and waves one chubby paw in greeting. Hello, new human friend! You have excellent taste.]

What?

[Catra's voice is sharp with surprise, and after a moment the feed goes dead.

Not for long, though - when she calls back, it's on a private line. Because this is an anomaly, and anomalies are potentially dangerous.]

Tell me everything.

[Scorpia remembers a few seconds too late that most people end up in a different place. But it wasn't Cherrygrove. It was, um, New Bark? Oh no. Oh no.]

Um. I said it wrong? Er... New Bark. I definitely arrived in New Bark and not Goldenrod and I wasn't told I had to work for a secret organization or anything at all!

How are you such a bad liar? Seriously, you're worse than Adora, and she thinks 'we were eaten by a sand shark, but we're better now' is a good excuse.

[She takes a steadying breath - and gently bats away the bulbous tail the little Marill is trying to use to bop her on the nose.]

Team Rocket grabbed you, right? There isn't another semi-secret organization we have to worry about.

Yeah...

[Scorpia winces but Catra is her friend, and she doesn't want to lie to Catra now that she's guessed.] I told them I was a really bad liar, but they don't just let people leave. They don't sound as evil as the Horde, but um, I wouldn't want to get civilians hurt if they were chasing me all over.

One of the rules is not letting other people find out, but if they don't find out they probably won't punish me. I don't like it very much, but I did find out that they have jobs for people who travel a lot, so!

It's not just them you have to worry about. There's a whole bunch of idiots who've decided they're going to try to hunt down and punish any members of Team Rocket they find.

How soon can you go on the road?

[Scorpia's smile goes uncertain.]

Oh yeah, I can see how that would happen, and I can defend myself and all, but I don't want to hurt them? I mean, Team Rocket is trying to be evil. They're not very good at it, but they totally want to be.

And in a couple days, I think? They have an orientation first. I've actually learned some things! I don't know if I'll ever use it, but I know how to pick a lock now!

They're really not. And that's the thing, there actually are dangerous people out there. It's like... I don't know, it's like if the Princess Alliance decided they really wanted to go after what was left of Tung Lashor's gang instead of stopping us.

Let me know when your orientation's over. We should meet in person.

Maybe they're new at trying to be good guys. Or maybe it's because a lot of Rockets have been kind of... obvious? They already gave me a speech about that in orientation.

[Either way, it's not great news. But Scorpia has her friends! She'll get through it.]

I will the moment it is! I can't wait to see you again. We didn't have much time to talk while everybody was celebrating.

How are things at home? How...

[She's about to say 'how's Adora', but bites her tongue on that. She's almost, almost afraid to hear the answer.]

How long has it been for you since we stopped Prime?

Pretty hectic! Lots of really sweet reunions and everybody checking on everybody else. And so many hugs! And, uh, an hour, maybe two? All of a sudden, poof! I was waking up in a strange room with a threatening note.

Huh. So there really isn't any connection between time passing here and time passing there. Or at least not much...

I didn't notice you were gone. I mean, there were a lot of people rushing around.

[Scorpia frowns.] How long have you been here?

[video]

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