Notes: I thought it would be fun if the two greatest booklovers met.
"Major Signs of the Author, Prayers to the Author, The Agents of the Infallable Author, The Invocation of the Author, Great Facts Concerning the Author, Legendary Legends of the Creator-- aha!"
"Aha!" said someone else, and warm fingers overlapped tip to tip with hers, inkstained with neatly clipped nails. Schiezka blinked at the hand, an eerie twin of her own, and looked. The girl looked back just as frankly, peering through black-rimmed glasses, pushing back a stray lock of black hair behind the perfect curve of her ear with her free hand.
"I'm sorry I saw it fir--" they begun simultaneously, then stopped and laughed ruefully.
"I'm Schieska," she said impulsively, "what's your name?"
The girl smiled shyly, roses blooming in her cheeks. "Y-"
The wall behind her suddenly bulged inwards, and exploded. Schieska screamed and whirled around, automatically protecting the book with her body. A hand landed on her shoulder, and she eeped.
"Wha--huh? I'm alive?" Paper fluttered all around them, as if stirred by a wind -- but they were all going in the wrong direction. Schieska squeaked as she was towed over the fallen bookshelves, running over a surprisingly smooth path for the window.
"Wait--this is the fourth floooooooooooooooooor!"
There was a sound like hundreds of bird wings beating, and Schieska opened her eyes again and gaped. They were lying on top of a glider...made entirely of paper. They were actually flying and not splattered like a dropped tomato on the pavement. It had to be a dream.
"Yomiko!" The girl yelled over the sound of rushing wind. "Yomiko Readman! It's nice to meet you, Schieska-san! Can I borrow your book first?"
"Wha--No! I haven't even looked at the first page!"
The wind around them abruptly whined, high and piercing, and something silvery streaked past Schieska's ear and smashed into a building. Which blew up. Schieska clutched the book harder and screamed as what looked like hundreds of really sharp shrapnel hurtled their way.
"Schieska-san!" Yomiko screamed, seizing her arm, while the paper glider abruptly twisted around them into a funnel shape, rippling like dragon scales as glass shards and shrapnel were deflected.
"You can have it after I'm done!" Schieska screamed back, grabbing for her glasses as she started to plummet. She didn't know how many pages she could read before she hit the ground, but there was no way she was going to die with an unopened book in her hands.
"Thank you very much, Schieska-san! Wait! No, er, I meant to say--"
The funnel narrowed suddenly, and Schieska was pressed face to face with Yomiko, cheeks flushed and eyes sparkling, hair whipping madly.
"I'll protect you no matter what," said Yomiko softly, and the funnel ribboned into a slide towards the ground.