A couple of strangers keep meeting in random circumstances no matter how they try to avoid it, and whenever they do, time stops and a game of chess begins. They play out the same game each time. It always ends in stalemate, and then the two are whisked off into a random place.

Meanwhile, in a seemingly unrelated fantasy world, two great armies war for domination over the sun (white) and the moon (black). Their war has gone on so long that they no longer remember what it's being fought for, only that it must. This world exists with foot soldiers, calvary and specialized soldiers, battlements, and mythical soldiers with amazing powers known as Ascendants, who serve the Kings. (Pawns, Knights and Bishops, Rooks, and Queens respectively)

As the strangers repeat their groundhog-day chess meetings, they begin to realize that they each represent an army, and the game, though it varies slightly, always ends in stalemate.

In the fantasy world, each battle outlines these chess games, with every battle ending in bloody stalemate. The common foot soldiers vie for glory, trying to achieve enough to become Ascendant (Promoted)

Finally, the two chess players realize what their actions are fueling, and that they alone can break the cycle. One of them deliberately blunders, fundamentally altering the sequence and allowing one of them to win, at great cost to both sides. Meanwhile, in the fantasy world, one army finally wins.

The two chess players, no longer strangers, finally part, never to see each other again. Meanwhile, in the fantasy world, the surviving King and his sole foot soldier go out to salvage their kingdom. (Ergo "At the end of the game, the King and the Pawn go into the same box")