Little Clover

Chapter I

***By Chance***
The loud clanking of my chains resounded throughout the cold, dank, room; unsettling the mice who hastily scurried into the sheltered corner across from my disheveled body. I let out a loud groan as the feeling of my stomach eating itself grew more and more intense.
I wiggled my foot around and the clatter of the chains bounced around my dirty little cell, sending the mice into another frantic dash.
I grew up in this cell, spent half my life in it, the other half, I can't quite remember. I don't know who either of my parents are or where I would even find them. All I know is the feeling of hopelessness this place has drilled into me.
Wiggling my foot again, my hungry body let out a loud protest to my malnutrition before sending painful jabs throughout my small figure.
"Aye, keep it down in there!" The familiar voice of my master sounded on the other side of a makeshift wooden door that would only slide open when he remembered too feed me, and then it was shut again.
"I'm hungry," I grunted through clinched teeth.

There was no answer.

In a last effort to get his attention, I heaved my body against the wall, rattling the thin metal that made up my little cage. There was a long silence before the click of my door's latch sounded and he looked inside.
I made a feeble attempt to speak but it ended up coming out more like a whimper because the pain in my stomach was becoming increasingly difficult to deal with. The latch closed and I felt hot tears begin to well up in my eyes, but before I could start crying, the doorway leading out into the grimy hallway opened.
I scrambled backwards toward the opposite corner of the room and watched as the man who pretty much owned me stood in the doorway and looked at me with a nasty sneer.
I let out another small whimper as fear shot through my body and the tears weighing on my lower eyelids spilled over, and flowed freely down my face.
"Relax girl, I'm just sending you on another little errand for me," his gruff voice pierced through the air like a knife through butter.
I nodded and made my way to my feet.
Stumbling slightly, I met him at the door where he handed me a roll of cash. I looked at it in surprise before quickly looking back at him.
"I want you to buy exactly what you did last time, only this time get yourself some too," he growled as he unlocked the chain and moved aside to let me pass.
I nodded again and began making my way out of the cell, but before I could leave, the man grabbed a hold of my hair and brought his mouth to my ear.
"Now don't you go runnin' off ya hear, I'm sure you know exactly what we'd do if we were to catch you," My body trembled as he spoke, and the feeling of his stubble made my insides do somersaults. The nausea I had been experiencing from my starving stomach suddenly amplified in response to my rapidly growing anxiety.
"Ya understand?" I nodded.
"I want you to say it!" He gripped my hair tighter causing a sharp yelp to escape my mouth.
"I understand," I said it as clearly as I could manage, my voice broke as more tears began slowly sliding down my pale, boney cheeks. The adrenaline from my fear had now taken its affect and my mind suddenly cleared as the pain in my stomach disappeared.
"Good, now get!" He threw me forwards and let go of my hair. I landed on my knees but quickly got up and stumbled my way through the deserted hallway. I looked at cell after cell as I went, some were empty, and some held other girls. I turned away and kept going, determined to get out, if only for just a moment.
Reaching the door, I glanced back at the man. He had turned away from me and was kicking in the door of the cell next to mine.
He was lanky and old, his tan skin was aged and wrinkled, but he wasn't so old that his matted, dark brown hair had yet to turn white. He wore a ripped, stale brown t-shirt, and a pair of old worn out blue jeans. The best word to describe him was dirty.
Returning my attention to the door, I grabbed the rusted, metal handle and opened it.
I shielded my eyes as sunlight flooded into the dark hallway and I quickly made my way out, shutting the door behind me.
Waiting for my eyes to adjust, I looked towards the building I had just come out of. It was larger than most buildings. Like a school, hallways made up the majority of the building, stretching on to create the rooms inside the building. The exterior was completely cement and had bits of graffiti scattered all over it.
With a shutter I turned away and began making my way towards town. I had run errands for him in the past, and he treated me a bit better than most of the other girls, but I didn't place much faith in him being kind to me if I were to never come back; so I always came back.
After about fifteen minutes, I arrived at the town's gate, which was really just a little metal arch at the front of the town with the word, "Welcome," scrolled across the top of it. I meandered into the store and was greeted by the old man who worked there.
"Ah, back again I see, what are you here for this time?" his voice was soft and kind. I didn't answer, instead I grabbed what I needed from the shelves and handed it to him.
"The same thing, huh?" He commented, but again I refrained from answering. I handed him the exact amount I was told to get and left the store with my purchase. I planned on going back right after, but a light from inside the local cathedral caught my eye, and my quipped interest got the best of me. Once I reached the archaic building, I quickly scrambled over to the window and took a small peek. Inside, large glowing books were picking themselves off of a giant shelf and they began flying towards people. I gasped as one book flew right towards the window before it quickly shot upwards into what I could only assume to be a second floor.
Driven purely on curiosity, I snuck behind the building and discovered a small entrance. I quietly opened the small door that led into the cathedral and hurriedly searched around until I found the room where I had seen the flying books.
It was an open room of pure opulence, the walls were made of cut stone and the floors were a beautiful polished wood. A large chandelier hung from the ceiling and it sparked with the lights of each book.
I snaked my way through the crowds of people who were still receiving their books and found a comfortable spot in the corner of the room where I was left unnoticed.
Sitting down, I watched as book after book flew to the hands of person after person. It looked as if the books had been choosing who they were flying too. Each book was different, some were small, and some were very large, they all emanated a vast assortment of colors, but every book had a three leaf clover printed onto the front of its cover.
I smiled as shouts of joy filled the room and people began to show off their books to other people. It was nice seeing so many people so happy all together.
I looked out of the nearest window and felt the color drain from my face.

The sun had set.

I sprang to my feet and started pushing my way through the crowd, earning discontented grunts and snide remarks. I almost made it through the entrance of the open room when something stopped me. I couldn't leave, for some reason I felt drawn to the bookcase. I looked around to see the crowd completely captivated by one last floating book.

This book wasn't just large, it's was huge. It looked like it had could've had a thousand pages and it glimmered a bright orange. The book fluttered around slightly before it suddenly stilled.
Murmurs began to spread throughout the room as the book floated for a moment, unmoving
Seeing the crown preoccupied, I shook off the feeling that had kept me there and made a move toward the exit.
Just then, the entire room burst into shocked gasps and I turned around only to have the same book fly right into my hands.

***
I hope you enjoyed, it's been awhile since I've made anything on this account. I hope you can forgive me. I might make this similar to the Naruto series, but I'm not sure. Tell me if you liked it, I'd appreciate any feedback.