Opposites Do Not Attract

[DoF Archive]

Date: 8/14/2002 5:31 PM Central Daylight Time
From: That Guy Harris

Harris plodded along the second floor walkway of the dilapidated inn, halting momentarily upon reaching a door labeled with the number twenty-six. He murmured quietly under his breath as he fished the door key from a random pocket, forcing it into the keyhole before shouldering the door open with a grunt. A flip of a nearby switch flooded the tiny room with light,
revealing a rather barren interior.

A fairly large and unmade bed crowded a majority of the opposite wall and in fact most of the room. The plain white door to the right complimented the otherwise naked wall and led to a small bathing and grooming area. The only other piece of furniture was a small oaken table below the light switch and atop it lay IceDancer, the famed Blue Opal of the Outback.

Harris glanced downward, eyeing the rock warily as it rested quietly, motionless. He had an inkling his newly aquired title as the Keeper of Fire might clash with his tenure as the Blue Opal holder, but he prayed it wouldn't cause any inter-dimensional rifts to open or stars to implode. Magic was tricky like that. He sucked in a deep breath, hesitantly reaching to grasp the gem, simply staring blankly as he held it in his open palm. Several tense
moments later he exhaled slowly, noting no adverse reaction.

Then, suddenly, the stone began to pulsate, shifting rapidly through the vast spectrum of colors. His eyes widened considerably before he let loose a piercing cry, jerking his hand back and sending the opal clattering noisily against the floorboards. Though strangely enough the stone continued to skitter across the floor, seemingly under its own power, to find a final resting place beneath his bed. Harris gritted his teeth, grasping his hand
tightly around the wrist as he assessed the damage.

An expression of bewilderment rested upon his features as he gaped at the opal's imprint upon his palm, formed from his own blackened and charred flesh. This certainly wasn't the beginning of anything good...

[DoF Archive]

Date: 11/12/2002 4:11 PM Central Daylight Time
From: HarrisTheHeckler


The gem wasn't in his possession, nor had it been for the past several months. Though thankfully few questions had been raised, and he was successfully able to defend the title he wasn't sure he even wanted anymore. IceDancer lay prone, underneath his bed in his old place of residence. He had since relocated then, across town.

Was it fear that drove him away? He'd never admit to that. In that single moment when the two entities of fire and ice had clashed, utilizing his very essence for their battlefield, he was left helpless. In the months past he hadn't once journeyed to his tower or returned to his old room to retrieve the stone. To be perfectly honest he hadn't wanted to.

The flame had seemingly asserted its dominance over him and it didn't seem particularly interested in another encounter with IceDancer as of yet. Their last battle had been fought to a stalemate and neither were willing to share this particular host. As long as IceDancer recognized Harris as its rightful owner it still held a fair amount of influence over him. It was quite clear that somebody had to go...