Freshwater+Fictional+Information

**__For some fictional stories about the Freshwater Biome!__**
Dedicated to Mrs. Singh's 1st hour Challenge Science Class, and to Mounir, from where we got the name MomoJama.

Now Presenting: A wonder to thrill the nation! Starring:

 * **//MomoJama, the algae!//**
 * **//Damien, the wise, old, extremely poisionous mushroom on the bank of the river!//**
 * **//Benni, the brown trout!//**
 * **//Mocha and Cappuccino, the north american river otters!//**
 * //and...... DUN DUN DUNNN!!!!//**
 * **//Xavier, the evil merciless bear!//**


 * Will MomoJama get eaten by parasites?**
 * Can Mocha and Cappuccino escape the cold, unforgiving clutch of Xavier?**
 * How much longer can Damien survive?**
 * Will Benni get over his life-threatening case of Ich?**

**__FIND OUT SOON!!!__**
= //Xavier//=

[[image:Mushroom.jpg]] //Damien//
=== Mocha skidded to a halt. She had been running through her home, which was a hollow log that crossed the river she and her sister, Cappuccino, lived in. The inside was wide and it was always damp, hence the fact it was over a river. In the center of the log on the bottom, there was a hole that the otters slid through to go swim. The log was warmer than the outside air, which made it nice in the winter. Winters were alway hard in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. But Mocha wasn't interested in anything that had to do with winter at the moment. She had a life-and-death message that she had in her mind and needed to tell Cappuccino about it.

After briefly catching her breath, Mocha ran to the other side of the long log, her white fur scratching the low ceiling. "Cappuccino! Cappuccino! I need you, come quickly!" cried Mocha. Moments passed before Mocha's eyes before she saw ripples in the hole leading to the river. Cappuccino soon popped up, her creme-colored fur plastered to her back. Cappuccino shivered a little. "What is it? I heard you all the way from underwater and you didn't even stick your head in the water. It had better be urgent, because I was chasing the only brown trout I have seen in days when I heard you." Cappuccino said.

"Well, it's about Benni." said Mocha. Benni was a brown trout that lived in the monsterous clump of algae that was stuck under the log, in the river. Cappuccino rolled her eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you that you should quit worrying about that stupid trout? We only use him to tell us where the fish are, and so far this week, he hasn't proved to be any help at all! I am starving!" Cappuccino was more impatient and had more of a temper than Mocha had. This made Mocha far more likeable to those around her. Sometimes, Mocha felt bad for Benni, because the otters had cornered him one day and in return for his life he had to inform Mocha and Cappuccino where all the rest of the brown trout where. Cappuccino had never really like him much, but Mocha always had. "He isn't stupid and for your information, and Benni is going to die!" Cappuccino gasped. "He is what?" She was stunned. "DYING! Kicking the bucket... meeting the big cheese.. becoming-" she was stopped mid-sentence by a frantic Cappuccino. "Well, duh! I know that! I was just in shock. Jeez, for such a smart otter, you don't really use common sense much, do you?" It was silent for a moment. Mocha was a little hurt by Cappuccino's curt comment and Cappuccino had to let it sink in that their fish who told them where all of the food was was dying. Mocha cleared her throat. "Well, maybe we should go see him one more time. I mean, he's dying. We don't know how, so he could be dead in the next hour or so." Cappuccino agreed. "Maybe we can get the mysterious locations of his missing friends out of him too, you know?"

The otters dashed out of their home. The splash of water on Mocha's brown fur felt so good. It was refreshing and wonderful. To think that all the fish that had gone missing were missing this! But Mocha didn't get too distracted; Cappuccino would have her tail if she got distracted on something that was her idea. Mocha swam deeper to the underside of the log. It was darker down there, but they could still see. And nothing stuck out more than that enormous clump of green algae that was swaying with the current. But what seemed even stranger was that the algae wasn't dead due to old age yet, but was still living. Mocha had no idea how the algae clump had become so huge, so huge that it could talk and had a name. His name was Momojama. Sadly, Momojama was old and cranky, especially these days. And now that Benni was dying, he was going to be even grumpier. Sometimes, Mocha wondered how Benni could put up with Momojama's bad atittude. She called for Benni. "Benni! Benni! Are you home?" cried Mocha. Cappuccino huffed. She did not want to be here. Then, a brown fish swam out of the algae. But, unlike his usual flat and pretty and shiny scales, Benni the brown trout looked like he had been turned into a fluffy white cloud! Mocha drew a breath.

"Benni! Mocha wanted to see you. She says you're dying. And, what, um, happened to your scales?" Cappuccino said. She was suddenly more emotional after seeing Benni in such a bad state. The poor little fish stared down at his pectoral fins. "I am going to die! It is so horrible and I don't know what to do! I feel so, well, I feel as though I have disgraced the One Who Watches Over Us Trout in some way. How else could I have been put in this life-threatening state?" Benni sighed. Cappuccino rolled her eyes. She knew that all animals believed in some god, but was just not interested in hearing about Benni's at the moment. But Mocha was curious. "Benni, are you sure that you're going to die? And do you know what disease you have anyway?" "No I don't. But I feel that I'm going to die." All was quiet for a few moments. "Hey! I know what to do!" said Cappuccino. "We can go see Damien, and he can tell us about Benni's disease, and while we're at it, we can ask him about the food shortage as well!" Cappuccino smiled. "That's a great idea!" said Benni. "I'd like to see my good friend Damien once more before I die." Mocha flopped her tail around Benni's brown puffed scales. "You won't die. Now let's go!"

The trio swam off to go to see Damien. Damien was the giant poisonous mushroom on the bank of the river. He was very old, and very wise. Damien knew everything there was to know about everything, at least that's what it seemed to Mocha. She and Cappuccino went to see him and ask for advice whenever they had problems. He was a good old friend to have around. Mocha lifted her head above the water silently. So did Cappuccino. Since there was a food shortage, someone, or something, must have been picking off the trout, because Benni said that they didn't migrate at this time of year. Since no one knew what was eating the fish, the otters had to be careful, because, could it eat otters too, whatever the thing was? Ever so slowly, Mocha, Cappuccino, and Benni swam toward shore. They saw Damien and as soon as they were close enough to shore, Mocha flopped onto the river bank. Cappuccino stayed in the water, so Benni couldn't get away.

"Damien!" Mocha yelled. He nodded politely in return. "Why, hello children, what seems to be the problem?" "The problem is that Benni has a serious undiagnosed illenss and we have no clue what it could be," Cappuccino stated firmly. "We've noticed a shortage of brown trout lately, and we were wondering if there was an illness spreading that could've effected him." "Why, silly girl, the brown trout are being eaten by a merciless bear who lives on the bank of the river. Xavier, I believe his name is." He paused and waited for a response. When no one spoke he said, "And as far as Benni's illness, it looks like ich to me." "Ich? What is that? It sounds icky." Mocha asked. "It is a fatal disease that is minorly common in fish. This disease occurs when the fish aquires a parasite, usually by contaminated food. The parasites eat away at the fish's body tissues and kill it little by little into a slow and painful death. I'm sorry, but there's not much hope for our friend Benni." Cappuccino's already pale white face turned even whiter. Mocha didn't speak. Benni looked like he was going to throw up. "Bu..but...I knew I was going to die, but coming from you that I actually AM going to die I feel almost dead right now!" Benni exclaimed. Cappuccino sighed. "Look, Benni. You may die, but we're going to die as well someday, and sometimes your dying day will just come sooner than you think." Cappuccino tried to comfort poor Benni, but it didn't work so well.

"I don't want to die!!!" He wailed. Mocha looked at Damien, hoping he would help a little in this situation. And he sort of did. "Children, Benni, calm down! It's ok. Dying isn't that bad, but every single one of you will be completely doomed to destruction if you do not do one thing." This drew all of Cappuccino, Benni, and Mocha's attention. What could possibly kill them all? Mocha thought. It was scary. Was it that thing that was causing all of the trout to disappear? Would they have to move downstream, or upstream to find a new home? "Ah. Now I see that I have your attention. Do you all remember me telling you about Xavier, the evil mercilless bear?" Everyone nodded. "Well then, you see, Xavier is about to go into hibernation and he is eating all of the trout he can find so he will be able to live all winter long without waking up. You must find a way to stop Xavier from eating all the trout! There's more to the story but that's for you to figure out. You must stop Xavier! Go now! Go!" Damien cried. Cappuccino and Benni immediately swam back to the log. "Thank you Damien!" Mocha cried as she swam back to her home.

One week later, Mocha and Cappuccino still had Benni as a companion. Momojama was grumpier than usual because he was scared, though he would never dare admit it, of catching Benni's disease of dropsy. And no matter how many times Benni would tell him that an algae could never catch a fish disease, Momojama would get even worse and more pessimisstic. But Mocha,Cappuccino and Benni didn't, and couldn't have time to, care because they were trying (trying being the key word) come up with ways to outwit the evil Xavier.

"I am sick of this!" cried Cappuccino. She was really moody today but then again, everyone was. There was no food and the fact that they had a big job up ahead didn't make it any better. To make everything stranger, Benni had even TALKED to the bacteria that caused his ich. They said, in their teeny tiny squeaks of voices, that Benni would die no matter what, which made him even more depressed. Benni looked cloudier every day. Cappuccino was in an outburst. "I can't think!" "Well I can't think either. How do bears act? How do they catch fish like me? What do they even look like? But I'll die anyway so why do I care!!!!????" said Benni, exasperated. Mocha grunted impatiently. She was sick of her sister and her friend's useless bickering at the moment. Would life ever be the same? She sighed, but then, came up with an idea. "I know what we can do! We should go watch Xavier and observe is behavior so we know what he's like and what we have to do to get rid of him!" Mocha said proudly. "Okay! That's awesome!" said Cappuccino. "I think so too!" said Benni. Soon, the otters and the trout swam through the river to find Xavier.

While swimming in the empty waters, Mocha stayed close to shore. Her sister and Benni stayed farther to the center because Cappuccino had insisted on making sure that Benni didn't escape. Mocha swam low in the water, to avoid being seen. Only the part of her head with her nose and eyes was visible to the world above. Mocha was swimming so quietly and cautiously that the sudden voice of some mysterious creature nearly made her scramble for shore and run for the trees it scared her out of her wits so much.

"Hi! I'm Minnie!" said the Thing. Mocha slowly turned her head toward Minnie. Whatever it was, it couldn't be so bad. And she was right, it wasn't. It turned out Minnie was a cute, sweet, and adorable little moss. She sounded really happy. "Do you need any help?" Mocha nodded. "Where's the evil bear Xavier? We must find him! And quickly!" Mocha cried. Minnie drew a breath, but to Mocha's surprise, she suddenly laughed a little. And not just the kind of laugh you laugh when your friend says something completely ridiculously funny, but the kind of evil laugh you laugh when someone has just been betrayed and a mysterious evil was going to come soon. Minnie suddenly didn't look so cute anymore, and Mocha saw that she was sucking the minerals out of a rock. Parasitism. "Why would you want to find Xavier? He eats all in his path. He would probably eat Damien if he had the chance! Oh well, he wanted to kill you anyway." Minnie sighed a happy sigh. "What do you mean? He wants to kill us? Wait, you're //happy// about that?" said Mocha in confusion. Cappuccino and Benni has swum closer to shore to see who Mocha was talking to. "I am happy. Why do you ask? Because I work for Xavier. Oh and one more thing, XXXXXAAAAAVVVVVIIIIIEEEEERRRRRR!!!!!" Minnie shouted. Her small voice rang incanely loud across the forest. A feeling of utter dread welled up inside Mocha.

Suddenly, a monsterous animal thundered through the forest and to the riverbank. The trees shook and lost the last few leaves they had left. The animal was huge and had brown fur that was bloody and matted, probably because he was hunting earlier. It was none other than the infamous Xavier. Mocha had never seen anything so horrible in her entire life. Xavier ran up to the river bank where Mocha and Cappuccino and Benni were. The trio was so frightened that they couldn't even move. Xavier barred his teeth, showing foot-long fangs. "We come to stop you! You cannot eat all the fish like this! It isn't good for the environment!" Cappuccino cried back. Xavier suddenly looked as though he had come up with an idea, which was definitely not good at all. His eyes went up and he smiled menacingly. "Wait, I know who you both are, you are Mocha and Cappuccino, the otters that I want dead so I can have this river to myself! And this is Benni, the little trout with a fatal disease. I want to eat you Benni. And you know what? **I WILL GET YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**" Xavier ran at them. He leaped into the fast current.The otters and Benni dodged his leap and splash. Mocha porpised throught the quicky-moving river. Her body was more wet and fur more pushed back than usual, as she was swimming for her life against the current. Xavier followed close behind.
 * "WHO DARE COME THIS CLOSE TO MY SECTION OF THE RIVER?????!!!!!!"** He roared. He was so scary and Mocha trembled in fear. She couldn't speak. But Cappuccino did all the talking for her. And for once, she shouted in a reasonable tone.


 * "WHAT DO WE DO???? WE WILL ALL BE KILLED BY EITHER THAT MONSTROUS CREATURE BEHIND US OR FROM EXHAUSTION IF WE KEEP THIS UP ANY LONGER!!!!!! WE NEED A NEW PLAN!!!!! AND WE NEED IT NOOOOW!!!!!!"** Cappuccino was shrieking a the top of her lungs. Mocha knew that they would indeed die of either of those two ways if they continued hopelessly trying to swim upstream. She had a vague idea in her head that she thought might work and Mocha knew she needed to tell Cappuccino and Benni her plan, but the problem was, was that they were all the way in the middle of the river, and she was close to shore. There was no way that she could let them know this without Xavier knowing too, so Mocha took matters into her own hands.

Slyly, Mocha dove under the cold water and flipped her body around. Now she was facing downstream, and toward Xavier. She stuck her head above the water. Mocha heard Cappuccino and Benni cry out in horror as Mocha headed straight for Xavier. But Xavier was anything but ready to capture her. He was so surprised that Mocha was swept right passed his enormous body and downstream. Mocha breathed an enormous sigh of relief. Her plan had worked, against all odds. And she had lived that moment. But all was not over. Xavier was following her through the water and was moving fast. She saw that Cappuccino and Benni were following her lead and had also turned and were swimming downstream. Xavier got closer and closer and closer. But suddenly, Mocha heard a loud, **BANG!** She whisked her head around and saw that Xavier had crashed head-on into two rocks that were jutting out into the river. Mocha had never noticed them because she was so slim that she fit right in between. She sighed. "Phew, Xavier's gone. Now I can swim in peace." But Mocha was wrong. Xavier was NOT gone. Instead, Mocha saw him climb out of the river and onto shore. He ran into the forest. Mocha became more scared. Xavier could be anywhere. Anywhere, Mocha thought again. The thought was scary. She needed somewhere safe that she and Cappuccino and Benni knew where it was as well.

"Mocha! Oh my gosh you scared me so much I almost died! I thought the current had gotten the better of you!" said Cappuccino with unbelievable relief that Mocha was right next to her. "Mocha! What do we do now? And are you ok?" asked Benni. Mocha nodded. "But this isn't the time to worry about me. We went here to spy on Xavier, and thanks to stupid Minnie the Moss, I got ourselves into this chase mess. But we never had a plan. We were going to think of one after we saw him." Mocha was panting. "Well, we saw him alright! And his fangs were a little long for my comfort!" said Cappuccino in sarcasm. Benni suddenly brightened. "I know! We should go to Damien, he'll know how to stop Xavier from destroying us and everything we love." Without saying another word, the otters silently agreed. All three swam downstream to consult Damien.

When they got there, Mocha splashed up from the river onto the shore. She flopped up close to Damien. Cappuccino and Benni were right behind her. Mocha suddenly felt weird, knowing that there was a predator that she feared in the forest right now. "Damien! Oh Damien! We have a huge problem!" And Mocha told Damien all about the wild chase that she and Cappuccino and Benni had gone through and how they got here. "So how on earth do we get rid of a monster like Xavier? I think we'd have to trick him or something, because we can't overpower him, there's no way." Mocha said. Damien thought for a while. He thought hard. "Well, I think it was good that you decided to observe Xavier. But next time, be a safer distance away and don't trust mosses. Most forest creatures around here can't be trusted. Anyway-"

Then, without any warning whatsoever, an enormous roar came from the trees. It was none other than Xavier, is mouth wide open and his fangs showing. His chestnut-brown fur was wet from the river incident. He stayed at the edge of the forest. "**Well I have you all now**!" shouted Xavier. He ran so fast that Mocha barely had time to analyze what was happening. She heard screams from Cappuccino and Benni and splashes as they dove into the river. Mocha saw Xavier's teeth going straight at her. Mocha catpulted herself into the air with tremendous velocity. Her head was turned toward Xavier. She was barely out of his reach when he lunged for her. But instead of catching Mocha in his terrible jaws, he ended up swallowing a huge chunk of Damien's head. That was all Mocha saw before she hit the water with a loud, splash.

Mocha bobbed her head up. She saw Xavier munching on the bit of Damien, the very large and extremely poisonous fungus on the bank of the river. The sight of it made Mocha sick. She turned her head away, brown eyes closed. "Mocha! Benni! Look at Xavier!" cried Cappuccino. Mocha turned. Xavier looked very sick now. His fat legs appeared to be weakening. He had a look of horror and hurt struck on his face. Mocha swam closer as Xavier doubled-up in pain. He looked at Mocha through cold-hearted eyes. //"I will kill you Mocha, if it's the last thing I do."// Xavier's menacing voice faded away. His head fell back. His body became still.

Xavier was dead.

Of course,

Damien was also dead.

Mocha broke down in tears. So did Cappuccino. And so did Benni. Finally, they looked at Damien's body. "I don't know. What should we do? We can't leave Damien like this, even if he is dead," said Mocha. "I know," Benni replied. "It's so, wrong I guess. Hey! You guys! Look at my scales!" Mocha and Cappuccino turned their heads to Benni. The Ich seemed to have disappeared! "It must have been those gases that Damien released when Xavier broke him in two... They must have been toxic to your parasites..." Cappuccino's voice trailed off. "At least one of us will live." Everyone began sobbing again. Mocha wanted to get away and stop crying. Then, she had an idea and quietly slipped away from her friends.

Mocha swam into a swampy tributary of the river. She came here before, but only to admire the beauty of the water lilies and cattails. With her teeth, Mocha plucked a water lily from it's stem, a late bloomer. She brought it back to where Damien was, on the bank of the river. Benni and Cappuccino watched as she placed it gently on top of the remains of Damien. Mocha ignored Xavier's body, which lay only feet away. Without saying a word, Mocha and Cappuccino, the North American River Otters, and Benni the Brown Trout, swam into the river. //To a new home,// Mocha thought.

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