Minecraft: Woodsword Chronicles/DeepDive1CHP
Prologue: In Which X Marks the Spot of a Place No One in Their Right Mind Would Want to Visit
Five figures are seen swimming in an ocean. Eventually, they come across an ocean monument. One of the figures pulls out a map, adorned with a big red X, to make sure that they are in the right position. The five figures then swim down toward the ocean monument.
Chapter 1: Sea Turtles! Sea Turtles, Run!
In Minecraft, Harper Houston holds her breath for a bit as she watches over some sea turtle eggs that were found on a beach. They begin to crack, and soon, baby sea turtles hatch from the eggs. Just then, the group (Harper, Morgan, Jodi, Po, and Ash) hear zombies approaching them, but they are easily distracted by the group. Harper then hears a low moan by the water, and soon notices a drowned heading toward the baby turtles. She fires an arrow at it to make it go after her, successful in hitting it. Harper then tries to use the bow again, but it out of arrows. She looks through her inventory to sort it out while also backing away to be out of range for the drowned to physically attack her. Just then, a creeper approaches Harper from the forest. She is able to watch the baby sea turtles move safely into the water before the creeper explodes.
Chapter 2: Go Ahead: Rock the Boat! It’s Already Super Broken.
Po saw the whole thing happen regarding Harper. He rushes over to check on her, but she appears to be alright despite the creeper launching her back a bit. Po then looks off in the distance, soon recognizing a shipwreck. Everyone heads onto it, looting the chests. The ones on the bow and stern of the shipwreck have a mixture of carrots and potatoes, gunpowder, diamonds and emeralds, and some leather armor that is enchanted. Morgan then leads the group down a staircase to one more chest in the interior. He decides to have Po open it because he was the one who found the boat. Po excitedly opens it, revealing potions of water breathing and a map with a big red X on it. Po insists on following the map, but Morgan and Ash seem suspicious about it, saying that having the potions of water breathing on the edge of the ocean would be way too convenient for them. After some discussion, the group decides to follow the map.
Chapter 3: Do You Dare Enter the Cellar of Secrets? Not Without a Hall Pass, You Don’t!
In the real world, Jodi arrives to school early wearing stuff that she would call "spy gear": dark sunglasses, sneakers that were as quiet as they could be, and a wide-brimmed hat. Despite the accessories, Harper immediately recognizes her and wonders as to what she is up to. Jodi explains that Doc Culpepper had been acting strangely throughout the week, noticing that she was carrying a full bucket of water down to the basement of the school at least three times. Jodi and Harper begin to descend the stairs to the basement, with Harper asking if the water buckets were being used for a science experiment. Jodi instead thinks that the water is being used for either a swimming pool or an ice-skating rink. At the bottom of the stairs, Jodi and Harper notice a large furnace on one side of the room. The back wall had a large closet filled with cleaning supplies. The two then smell salt water, making Jodi be under the belief that Doc is from the city of Atlantis, but Harper explains that Doc actually went to college and graduated with two doctorate degrees.
The two then notice small puddles of water leading down the hallway to a door that had been ajar. Peering inside, Jodi notices big tanks of water while also hearing an animal making a squeaking sound. Just then, Jodi and Harper hear a shrilling noise, which almost makes the latter scream, but Harper pulls out her phone, which she got from her older sister, confirming it to be the source of the sound. Doc then stands in the doorframe, wondering as to what is going on. Harper says that they were just curious as to what was happening down in the basement. Doc decides to let them inside, revealing to them a dozen aquariums, albeit empty. Jodi quickly notices that Baron Sweetcheeks is here, and Doc says that Ms. Minerva let her borrow him. Jodi then notices the aquarium beside Baron. Unlike the other ones, this one in particular was teeming with life. Small fish darted back and forth across it, and it had coral inside of it. Doc explains that she plans to move some pieces of the coral to the other aquariums as part of an experiment. Harper asks if she can help, and Doc says that she can, but her entire class would need to help as well. Jodi and Harper happily accept just as the latter’s phone goes off. Harper apologizes and slaps her backpack to stop the phone from making noise.
Chapter 4: Smooth Sailing! (The "Moo" Part Will Make Sense Eventually.)
In Minecraft, Harper, Morgan, Jodi, Po, and Ash decide to craft some boats from the wood planks from the shipwreck. It didn’t take long for them to head in the direction of the X on the map. After a few days of rowing, fishing, and eating, they discover some land off in the distance. Making landfall just as the sun begins to set, they notice that it is a mushroom island, and soon find its natural animal, the mooshroom. As Po, Ash, and Jodi use some wheat to play around with the mooshroom, they soon notice several dark shadows flying over them. Morgan realizes that the shadows are of phantoms and asks for everyone to take cover.
Chapter 5: Terror in the Skies! Danger in the Depths! What Else Is New?
The phantom swoops low, attacking Jodi. Po asks for Harper to use her bow, but she exclaims that she is out of arrows. Ash says that they can fight back with swords, but Morgan says that it would be too risky. Realizing that they have only one way out, Morgan asks for everyone to dive into the water, which they do. Morgan notices a school of fish and a squid speeding through the water, but soon realizes that he is running out of air. He tries to use a water breathing potion, but Ash instead gestures for everyone to follow her. She then points to a bubble column. Everyone swims over to it to be able to breathe, and they prepare a shelter to sleep. Morgan starts by swimming to the seafloor for dirt and then using it as a foundation for the underwater shelter. Ash instead gestures toward an underwater cliff and begins placing glass down, with the top like an elevator shaft and the rest built around herself, although it was still full of water. Ash then fills the space with white wool and lights a flint and steel, engulfing the wool in flames.
Chapter 6: Unexpected Lab Partners (and Other Disasters)
Everyone panics as Ash engulfs the enclosed space in flames, but the wool soon burns away, with Ash still standing. She then places a door down, allowing everyone inside the enclosed space. Everyone places down their beds, fall asleep, and disconnect for the night. The next morning, in the real world, Harper wakes up thinking about yesterday’s adventure in Minecraft, and during quiet moments throughout the day, she uses her phone to go online and check out information on the underwater environment in Minecraft. At lunch, Po asks Harper about the math homework, and she says that she didn’t do it yet. Po exclaims that the homework is due later today, and Harper decides to use the lunch period to get it done. Just then, a crashing sound is heard over by a closet. Everyone looks over to see Ms. Minerva trying to close the closet door, which was filled with dozens of plastic cafeteria trays in a variety of colors. Ms. Minerva says that she was trying to find a place to stash the old trays as the school PTA bought new ones.
Po asks if they can just be thrown out, but Ms. Minerva says that they aren’t recyclable. Everyone else decides to help her out away, except for Harper, who is busy working on math homework. She ends up finishing it just as the lunch period ends, but arrives a few minutes too late to science class, which is taking place in the basement lab. The entire class had been split into groups of two, so Doc has Harper become partners with Theo. Although Harper feels disappointed, she also feels thrilled about the project, which Doc calls "Project Coral Restoration". Doc explains that coral reefs are dying due to climate change, but that they can be restored by growing coral in a lab. Harper and Theo get to work on the project; the former tries to stay optimistic, although she also feels like problems keep piling up on top of one another.
Chapter 7: Everything Looks Better by the Light of a Sea Pickle.
Back in Minecraft, Harper, Morgan, Jodi, and Ash decide to go explore a bit around the ocean. They all agree not to go too far as Po is busy with basketball practice. Morgan thinks that the map leads to somewhere underwater, but Ash suggests to save that for another day. Jodi notices that she swims faster when a dolphin is close to her. Everyone had drank a potion of water breathing, but Harper has a magma block at the ready in case anyone needs it. Sea pickles are also found as a light source. Jodi finds some coral that she hopes to use as decoration. Soon, everyone decides to head back to their underwater base. As the base comes into view, Jodi notices a figure that looks like Po to her at first, but as everyone swims to the base, they realize that nobody is there. Morgan wonders if it was a trick with the light, but as Ash goes through a chest, she says that someone was actually here. The chest was filled with more potions of water breathing, as well as a scute that could be used as a helmet to breathe underwater. Jodi wonders if it is a glitch, but Harper thinks that someone is aiding them. Morgan still feels like it could be a trap, but he hopes to be wrong.