Minecraft: Stonesword Saga/ToBee1CHP
Prologue
Harper is seen playing Minecraft as bees are buzzing around her. One of them aims its stinger at her face, but she puts up her shield just in time to deflect it. A spider then lunges toward her, and she whacks it away with her empty hand. This is repeated over and over, and Harper feels like she won’t be able to escape.
Chapter 1: To Bee, or Not to Bee Marked Absent Is Not a Good Question to Ask This Early in the Morning.
In the real world, Harper is in the front lawn of Woodsword Middle School with her friends (Jodi, Morgan, Theo, and Po) and her class, as Ms. Minerva takes attendance. Harper wonders as to what is going on, and thinks that Doc Culpepper might be to blame. Morgan thinks that she tried to replace the lunch ladies with robots again, while Po thinks that the whole school is now a habitat for iguanas. Harper grinned at those suggestions, although they were obviously not true, but she realizes that Doc is unpredictable in what she could do. Just then, Doc arrives in a pickup truck with something covered under a tarp in the back of it. She and an old man then step out of the truck and greet the students, with the old man introducing himself as Mr. Shane, who works as a beekeeper. The tarp is then removed, revealing crates that are swarmed with bees, and Doc mentions that they’ll be talking about bees all week during science class. Mr. Shane then adds that bees are important to the world’s ecosystem before he leaves to head over to the town orchard, not before leaving behind one crate full of bees for the students to keep an eye on for a few days. The students promise to take care of the bees, but Harper feels like it’ll be harder than it sounds.
Chapter 2: The Secret to Successful Animal Friendships? Lots of Snacks!
Later, Harper and her friends are back in the world of Minecraft as she insists that they talk about the Fault, but Theo insists that they find the remaining three pieces of the Evoker King so everything can be fixed. The group then notice a fox chasing after a rabbit, and Jodi turns pale as Theo mentions that the fox is planning to eat the rabbit. Harper reiterates to Jodi about the food chain, mentioning that rabbits are herbivores and foxes are carnivores. Suddenly, a butterfly appears, and the group follow it.
Chapter 3: Calling Lightning Down from a Mysterious Rip in the Sky… and Other Questionable Ideas
Three other butterflies soon joined the lone one and followed it as well, leading Jodi and her friends to a forest biome with a mix of oak and birch trees. The butterflies soon gather around a block that was "yellow with bands of brown" and small openings on the side, making everyone realize that it is a bee nest, with Ash specifically thinking that the next part of the Evoker King is inside a giant bee. Jodi then whispers to Po, asking him if he still has the trident. Po says that he does and asks why. Jodi then says to Po that the trident has an enchantment that causes lightning to strike whenever it is thrown, and Po reiterates that it is only possible when it is raining. The two then discuss about animals being transformed when being struck by lightning before Jodi decides to throw the trident at the fault. Po interrupts her, causing the trident to go off-course, but lightning strikes it anyway, causing hot sparks to shower down onto nearby trees and brush. The two then head back toward their friends, who are overwhelmed by the sound of buzzing, as Theo says that Morgan disturbed a nearby bee nest. Morgan reiterates that he only poked the nest a little bit, but the damage had been done. Several bees soon appear from several nests nearby, and they make the shape of the Evoker King. The group then notice the bees buzzing as a means of making words, with the bees "saying" that the group must do something before being interrupted by a flash of lightning. The bees then fly away in different directions as a fire begins to spread through a nearby forest.
Chapter 4: Excuse Me, Fellow Minecraft Players, We Don’t Want to Alarm You, but Fire!!!
Theo freezes with inaction upon noticing the fire, but quickly gets back into action to help stop the fire as he states that the bees might not be able to "deliver their message" if the bee nests are destroyed. Everyone else decides to make a river in the middle of the forest, while Harper collects dirt blocks to make walls so the fire doesn’t spread further. Po then mentions the trident, which makes Theo ask him if he caused the fire, but Jodi admits that she did and apologizes. Nonetheless, Harper soon enchants a pickaxe with Silk Touch to safely mine out the bee nest from a nearby tree and carry it to safety. As Theo looks out at the ruins of the forest, which are still smoldering, he finds it very hard to be hopeful about the current situation.
Chapter 5: Flight of the Honeybee. Fright of the Students. A Chance to Join the Dance!
The next day, in the real world at school, Po, Jodi, and Morgan talk to each other about the situation in Minecraft just before science class. Morgan reaffirms to Jodi and Po that what they did was a complete accident, but they should’ve known better before using the trident. Just then, Harper slumps into her seat, and Morgan asks if she is okay. She then says that she was up late learning about bees, specifically about "colony collapse disorder", in which a majority of bees just simply disappear from a colony. Class then begins as Doc explains to everyone about the importance of bees in the environment. Theo soon shows up with an excuse note from Ms. Minerva, saying that he is now part of the newly-formed "Woodsword Gardening and Landscaping Club". Doc thanks him for the note and then resumes talking about bees, saying that a colony only has one queen bee, and that the rest of the bees are either drones (males) or workers (females). Just then, a bee flies in through an open window, making everyone panic, but Doc quickly shoos it away with a piece of paper, stating that the bee is searching for nectar from a flower. Jodi then asks as to what the bee will do when it finds nectar, and Doc says that the worker bees need help, and they do so by communicating with a series of gestures. The class takes this as dancing, and it isn’t long before everyone dances at their own beat.
Chapter 6: In a World of Emails, Texts, and Pop-Up Ads, the Message Has Been Received… Sort Of.
Later, back in Minecraft, Po is wearing a bee skin as the others (Morgan, Jodi, Harper, and Theo) discuss about the Fault; Ash is unavailable as she had to attend a scout meeting. Jodi and Po once again apologize for using the trident, and the latter thinks that they should repair the forest that was destroyed. Theo immediately objects, saying that they should focus on the mission, but eventually caves in after Morgan and Harper also agree to help. They plant some flowers and saplings nearby, and the saplings soon grown into a giant oak tree. Harper then places the bee nest that she collected on the side of the tree, and three bees are seen leaving the nest, buzzing around the tree. Theo then notices that the bees are doing different motions, but are caught in a loop, and assumes that they are glitched. Po then exclaims that the bees could be communicating with motion just like in real life, and the group soon notice the bees spelling out "PRO". They are unsure as to what it means, so Harper suggests they hold it off until tomorrow when they can do some research.
Chapter 7: Time to Hit the Books! But Not Literally. Because That Would Be Rude.
The next day, after school, the group (Jodi, Morgan, Po, and Harper) gather at the Stonesword Library as planned; Theo is unavailable due to a scheduling conflict with the gardening and landscaping club. Mr. Mallory then gives the group some textbooks on morse code, and they begin studying out the term "PRO". Ash joins the group via Harper’s phone, who greets Duchess Dimples, the library’s pet hamster, before hanging up, suggesting that she’ll talk with her scouting friends about solving the term. After twenty minutes of studying with no luck, Mr. Mallory comments on them as being a "hive mind at work". Po wonders as to what that term means, and Mr. Mallory states that it means every individual insect doing its own thing for the good of its colony. Morgan then asks as to what would happen if most of the colony disappeared, and Mr. Mallory says that the colony could be wiped out entirely if there weren’t enough bees to perform tasks, unless the queen bee is still alive. This makes Harper realize that they need to breed more bees in Minecraft, so they can spell out the message as originally intended. Just then, Theo bursts into the room, exclaiming to Harper that the bees in the crate left behind by Mr. Shane are dying.