Michael hadn't been in the Pitt for long now. A week, maybe, if he was estimating correctly. He didn't know exactly, since he'd spent most of his time just trying to readjust to being outside again, out in the open air without people coming to torture him every hour. He spent the majority of his time just wandering around The Pitt's territory, familiarizing himself with things besides just the cave that he had chosen to be his home. It wasn't the most exciting process in the world, and he still felt the restless itch beneath his fur even when he was wondering in circles through the jungle, but he did pick up a few interesting things. Surprisingly – or perhaps unsurprisingly – Pittians tended to be pretty big gossips, and it didn't take long before the bobcat knew the entirety of the story of how Kydobi had become leader, and how the Pitt had fallen from their former glory. It had made him snort at first, amused that such a huge place that acted like hot shit could be taken down like that. However, that place was unfortunately now his home, for better or worse. He intended only to stay until his injuries were fully healed, but he honestly had no idea what he was going to do once that happened. Leave and go back to his old life? Listlessly wander around, searching for Trevor? It didn't sound very fulfilling.

Intent on proving himself to be something – and also finding something to do so that he'd stop focusing on the weird empty feeling inside of him – Michael had asked around enough to learn that Tanglewood was one of the primary enemies of The Pitt. They'd been part of the huge combination of groups that had fucked them over before, and still weren't exactly seen as friendly by Kydobi. That was enough info for Michael, who had immediately decided to go on a little reconnaissance mission to the swamp dwelling group. He was still sliced up, and thus knew he couldn't do anything too horrible, but that wasn't really his intention anyways. He had never been one for senseless violence. He didn't kill randomly – at least not unless they were in his way – or torture people for fun. He just wanted to maybe nab someone, just so that the Pitt could start to be feared again, and maybe he could get something in return. He wasn't quite sure what yet, but he bet Tanglewood would offer anything up in exchange for one of their friends or family.

Either way, after washing the scent of the Pitt thoroughly from his fur – which hadn't been too hard, given the short time he had been there – the bobcat had wandered over the Tanglewood border, tugging a little at his bandages. He had made sure to make himself look as beaten up as possible, his jewelry and aviators forgotten back at home in exchange for a disheveled, bloody appearance. Once the scent of someone nearby finally caught his nose, he stopped moving forward, plopping his butt down and letting out a whine of pain. He meowed softly, putting on the dramatics, "Hello? Is there somebody there that can help me?" Hopefully whoever came across him wasn't too big. He had the advantage of a surprise attack, hopefully, but he was still injured, and physical power was far from his strong suit.

Wow, had he certainly gotten lucky. Not only had he gotten someone small – a domestic cat, even smaller than he was – but he had also gotten someone out on their own. It was a dream come true, and Michael nearly had to bite himself to keep from laughing. He could practically see the gears working in Moth's mind as she looked around the scene before her, and he knew that he had to say something, if only to fill the air for just a moment. He found himself stumbling forward a bit, just slightly too close into Moth's space. He said softly, making sure to sound pained, "Ah, yes, yes please, can you help me? I was just wandering along, trying to find some place to stay for the night, when suddenly I got jumped by this big wolf. I just barely managed to scamper away with my life. Thankfully I think I only have shallow wounds..." He looked down at himself for a moment, pretending like he was giving his injuries the once over. However, in reality he was planning things out in his head, taking in the scene in front of him. Moth was smaller than him, and she was very close, ready to administer medical care. He was hardly the strongest bobcat around, but he knew he could at least move Moth around quickly. His eyes flicked over to a nearby tree stump for a moment before a plan had formulated solidly in his head.

Once the moment had passed, he lifted his head up and looked pleadingly to Moth, his blue eyes wide and slightly teary. His body was tensed up, and he hoped that it would look like he was stiff from pain, rather than waiting to launch an attack. When she would lean in to inspect his multiple wounds, that's when everything seemed to slow down around him. His senses were all hyper focused, and as soon as she was within his reach to help, he was launching himself forward. He didn't want to do a lot of damage, he just wanted to knock her out, so Michael shot forward, trying to grab Moth by the sides with his claws. If he was successful in doing so, he would try to slam her downward towards the tree stump, trying to collide her upper body and head with it in order to knock the wind out of her or knock her out entirely. He tried to be as quick and as firm as possible, his thoughts silently chanting as he moved, please work, please work. He had knocked people out before in his life, but for the most part that had been people that he and Trevor were planning to kill anyways. In this case, he didn't want to kill Moth. Just make her a little bit easier to move from here to the Pitt.

Michael was honestly sort of stunned that this whole little stunt had worked out. For the most part, he had assumed that at best he would miss, and Moth would take off and he would have to bolt before he got his ass kicked. Absolute worst case scenario, someone was waiting in the shadows and he was about to get his ass handed to him anyways, regardless of what was going on in his head. Thankfully for him, neither of those turned out to be true, and Moth crumpled easily to the ground in front of him, nothing but a sharp gasp of surprise leaving her before she was knocked unconscious. Michael found himself wincing a little at the noise of her head colliding with the roots, and the bobcat nosed timidly at her skull, worried that he had killed her or something. Thankfully he didn't come back with any blood when he pulled his muzzle away, which was a good sign. He just wanted to cause some trouble, not kill anybody. He didn't do that unless somebody had seriously fucking wronged him, or was trying to keep him from getting something. Moth had done neither of those things, so once he was sure she wasn't seriously injured, he gripped her scruff carefully in his jaws, lifting her onto his back.

She was a little heavy for his small frame – especially with the weight of a few developing kits, although he had no idea about that – so it took him a couple of seconds to adjust to where he could quickly flee from Tanglewood territory, back towards the Pitt. His pawsteps were swift and light, and he took especially careful looks around, just to make sure that nobody was following him as he vanished off into the loner lands. He still had little idea of what he was going to do with Moth once he got back to the Pitt – he was hardly the torturing type – or what he was going to demand in exchange for her back, but only one thing was really for sure. Moth was going to be stuck in the Pitt for a while, for better or worse.

( out!! this thread is now open to everyone, and Moth is considered to be missing/trapped in the Pitt )