Hi all! This is the first in a series of oneshots related to my Treasure Planet fanfic "Solace and Other Gems." Each of these oneshots takes place in the world and context of Solace, with no particular connection or chronological order to them. The next oneshot could be set years after this one, or months before it; who knows!

I recommend listening to the Russian Dance music from the Nutcracker Ballet when Morph starts getting involved with the vendor; the song is a classic soundtrack to any shenanigans, if you ask me. I've posted a link to a recording of it on my profile.

Now then, read on!

Morph squeaked in delight from his spot on Ali's shoulder, trying to look everywhere at once. He loved open-air markets; there was always so much going on. All around were stalls full of tempting food, people moving around, delicious smells wafting through the air.

Ali giggled at the little blob's excitement. "Ok Morph, Jim and I have some grocery shopping to do. You can either tag along with us or have your own look around."

Morph chittered affectionately, licking Ali's cheek before zooming off through the market.

Ali shook his head. "I hope he'll be all right."

"He'll be fine." Jim took her hand and gave it a squeeze, trying to reassure her.

"He's so mischievous, though. What if something happens?"

"Morph knows how to handle himself. He can get into trouble sometimes; but even he has his limits."

ooOoo

Morph zipped through the air, still chittering his excitement. There was so much he could do; what looked like fun?

He stopped as he heard the sound of laughter. Three kids were running around the town square, kicking a bright red ball back and forth. Their movements were lively, eyes bright as they played their game.

One of them gave an extra hard kick to the ball, and suddenly it was airborne. It flew through the air, heading straight for a stall full of fresh produce, and hit the stall's vendor square in the face. Morph giggled at the sight. The burly man, however, was not amused.

"You little brats!" He shouted at the now dismayed children, waving a fist covered in black spots. "Why don't you watch where you aim!"

"Sorry, mister," One of the children said nervously. "Can we have our ball back now? We promise to be careful."

The man picked up the toy, still scowling. Morph could see sharp fangs peeking out of his mouth, teeth that belonged on a jungle cat. "I can't have you messing up my merchandise. You're not getting this back anytime soon. If you're lucky, you can come back later with your parents and I'll return it to them."

The children started to protest, but a glare and a growl from the man silenced them. Heads down, they began to walk away.

Morph's mouth dropped open as he watched the vendor drop the ball into a cardboard box inside the stall, and then return to his work. Searching for the children, he spotted them already a good distance away. He hastily flew after them.

As he neared them, he heard sniffles and little sobs, and realized that they were crying. Though Morph didn't have what humans would call a heart, something inside him ached to see the children so sad. Putting on a burst of speed, he steered himself to hover right in front of them, squeaking.

Their sobs halted as they stared at him, eyes wide. Morph squeaked again, and then greeted them in his high-pitched voice. "Hiya!"

The children's eyes widened further. The one on the left raised her hand and gave a small wave. "Hi," she said shyly.

They were all smiling now; but Morph could still see them sniffling and wiping at their eyes. He would have to fix that. His gelatinous body spun around, and he felt the familiar shift of particles as he morphed. Now an exact replica of the red ball, he bounced high above the children's heads, making them squeal in delight. He came back to the ground, and let one child pick him up.

The children were mindful of the fact that he was a living creature, playing catch with him instead of kicking him around. The advantage with this game was that they wouldn't lose the ball or hit anything by mistake. Now and then Morph would get thrown too far, and would stop in midair and bounce to the ground, where he could be retrieved by his playmates.

After about ten minutes, the children took a break, and Morph changed back to his blob form. The children all grinned at him, not a trace of tears left. "Thank you for playing with us, Mr. Blob!" One of them exclaimed.

"Yeah, thank you!" The smallest of the three echoed. "You're super, super fun!"

Morph gave a smile and twirled in midair; but his smile soon vanished. Sighing, he turned himself into a replica of the vendor, complete with growling noises.

The children frowned at the sight. "He took our ball," one of them commented glumly.

"Meanie," Morph agreed, reverting back to his default form. This time he did a partial shape change, creating a mini red ball that he snatched from the air and held out to the children.

Their eyes lit up. "You'll get it back for us?" The first speaker said excitedly.

Morph nodded with his whole body, and motioned for them to follow him.

ooOoo

Morph surveyed the spotted vendor from a short distance, face scrunching in disgust. Morph was silly, but he wasn't stupid. He knew that bullies came in all shapes and sizes; and the produce vendor was just a grown-up bully. Morph really disliked bullies.

Flying low, Morph made his way under the cloth-covered table that stood on one side of the stall, a box of fresh purps on top of it. The table was connected to a series of similar tables that held other products for sale. Staying under those, Morph made his way around the stall until he spotted the cardboard box containing the red ball.

The box was only a few feet from his hiding place. Peeking out, Morph saw the vendor turn his back to him. It was as good a time as any to make a move. In one quick motion, he hopped inside the box, which was actually big enough to hide him from view.

The ball was by far the largest object in the box, and Morph quickly took hold of it. It was heavier than he expected, and his little arms trembled as he floated out of the box with his prize.

Hiding himself under the tables again, he circled around the rim of the stall. The ball was still heavy, but he was managing it. All seemed to be going well, until he bumped into a table leg.

Morph let loose a panicked noise as he lost his grip on the ball. The toy fell from his grasp, rolled a few feet, and stopped right in a patch of sunlight. Things only got worse as the vendor turned around and spotted the ball. Grunting in confusion, he stepped forward to pick it up.

But Morph moved faster. Changing into a leather boot—modeled after a pair of Jim Hawkins' shoes—, he gave the ball a good kick, sending it right to the children who waited nearby.

The tallest of the three quickly scooped up the ball. "Thank you, Mr. Blob!" He shouted.

Unfortunately, he got the vendor's attention. The jungle cat-man snapped his head in their direction. "You again?" He shouted. "Get back here, you runts!"

Morph chose that moment to fly straight into the cat-man's face. "Run!" He shouted to the children. They did as he said, bolting down the street and turning a corner.

Morph continued to heckle the cat-man, laughing mockingly, until the children were out of sight. Now that they were taken care of, it was time the vendor got a little karma. He swooped over to one of the tables and started popping blue cherries into his mouth, spitting the pits towards the vendor's feet.

The cat-man snarled. "Why, you little…" he lunged, his fingernails extending into curved claws. Morph jumped away just in time, and the cat-man's swipe sent the cherries tumbling to the ground.

"My merchandise!" The vendor yowled. Morph flew to one of the walls of the cloth tent surrounding the stall, and blew a raspberry at the enraged cat-man. The taunt resulted in another swipe of the man's hand, his claws ripping a long gash in the tent.

"When I get my hands on you, you're going to be sorry!" The man roared. Morph blew another raspberry and flew through the hole in the tent. The vendor ran after him, straight through the tent…and crashed into the stall that stood next to his.

Morph trembled with suppressed laughter as the two-fingered woman at this stall began to shout at the cat man. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" She shrieked. "What kind of stunt are you trying to pull?"

"There was a thief ruining my products," The cat-man said indignantly. "I was trying to catch him."

"Well, now you've ruined a good deal of my wares!" The woman gestured to the jars of honey and fruit preserves that lay broken on the floor.

Morph had no quarrel with the female vendor. He even felt a little guilty, seeing her products oozing across the ground. His mission with the other vendor was complete, so he made to slip away.

Before he had gotten far, though, the cat-man's eyes landed on him. "There he is!" He exclaimed, pointing straight at Morph. "It's his fault I ran into your stall!"

The woman's eyes widened. The next thing Morph knew, both vendors were running at him, the woman brandishing a wooden staff. He squeaked in fright and flew into the next stall, hoping they would be less reckless with another set of products around.

No such luck. The cat-man seemed to have lost all common sense. He jumped straight into the stall Morph occupied, and Morph could swear that his eyes were turning red. The woman followed right behind him, smacking with her staff at the shelf Morph was perched on.

Morph dodged her and zipped away. Maybe flying through the stalls wasn't the best idea. He tried a different strategy, zigzagging back and forth across the road, now and then ducking underneath a tent.

The strategy worked. Within a minute Morph had lost sight of his pursuers. He could still hear their shouts, though. If only he could find…Ali and Jim! His spirits soared at the sight of the two teenagers, each one carrying two grocery bags. Without hesitation he flew over to them, shooting into Ali's coat pocket and huddling there with a whimper.

ooOoo

Even through the fabric of her coat and dress, Ali could feel Morph shivering. Her eyebrows drew together. "Morph? What happened to you?" Her eyes narrowed as two figures came up the street, walking fast. One was a cat-man, claws extended, while the other figure, a woman, held a wooden staff in two-fingered hands reminiscent of scissors.

The cat-man stomped up to Ali and Jim. "Hey, you two! Have you seen a little pink blob creature?"

The two teenagers looked at each other, and then at the cat-man. "Why do you ask?" Jim said slowly.

The man bared wickedly sharp canines. "The infernal pest destroyed both of our stalls, that's why!" He gestured to himself and to the woman.

Jim's eyes widened. "Well," he managed after a stunned moment. "That's, um, just awful. I'm sorry to hear that."

"We haven't seen any pink blob, though," Ali finished, resisting the urge to glance at her pocket.

The cat-man growled and stomped away, muttering obscenities under his breath. The two-fingered woman watched Ali and Jim for a moment in silence, then turned and followed the cat-man.

Ali looked over at Jim. "Even Morph has his limits, huh?" she muttered.

"Oh, shut up," Jim muttered back. "I think it's time for us to go."

Ali sighed. "At least we got the groceries we needed." She patted her coat pocket. "Morph, you better have a good explanation for this."

"Yeah," Morph chirped back as quietly as he could manage.

Jim shushed them both. "Let's get out of here." He and Ali started to walk, trying to look nondescript.

A sound caught Ali's attention, and she frowned. "Jim…why are you whistling?"

"It makes us seem less obvious," Jim explained.

Why me? Ali squinted at Jim, furrowing her eyebrows. "Jim, that is the most played-out, obvious method for trying not to look obvious. Now cut it out." Even as she scolded him, she had to suppress a smile at the pout forming on Jim's face.

When they were about a block away from the market, Ali told Morph it was ok to come out. He flew out of her pocket and took his usual perch on her shoulder.

Ali raised an eyebrow at him. "You've got a story to tell us, I'll bet."

Morph cooed, the sound slightly guilty, and nuzzled against Ali's face, licking her cheek once.

Ali smiled. The little blob seemed so relieved to be safe and with her again; she just couldn't stay mad at him. "I can't wait to hear it."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Hope you all enjoyed! Leave a review and let me know what you think!