The silence was excruciating. Torturous. No sound of commonly continual songs of the wild played, all creatures and even nature itself seemed to cease, waiting with bated breath; the atmosphere shared in the lingering reticent pause. Unknowing yet all knowing, they simply waited to hear word of mouth. There was a hollow whisper on the wind, the breeze causing a flutter through drapery along archways and lavish silks adorning everlasting flesh. The day was darkening, signalling the evening's imminent approach. The darkness would offer relief; brief, but would never be close to enough.

He looked upon his progeny, the weight of what he'd caused, the result of his actions and what she had endured, lay heavy on his heart. He knew not how to approach her, he simply remained present until she found the ability to speak, to raise her unseeing gaze from the stone floor and look to him. But he was not at all prepared for the agony he saw within her golden eyes, shining like glass with unshed tears, when she lifted her sight to meet his.

The quiet seemed to reach a deafening point at her movement from her previously statuesque posture. The wind ceased so not even a leaf's quiver would dismantle the expectant stillness; the sun was descending, light dissipating. The home bathed in darkness, silence leaden.

Her hushed inhale was a raucous gust of wind before her voice, gravelly with mourning, softly uttered, "He is dead."

.

"You were to be my greatest creation - not to say that you aren't - but you were meant for so much more, to do so much good, accompany and offer guidance along side the Maiar to shape the World," Aulë paced before a long cushioned chair, five steps past supported legs with feet that crossed at the ankles, then eight steps back to pass the high head rest supporting a casually rested - and plainly unperturbed - upper body. He halted in his pacing and faced the lounging body; glowering down, he gestured with a jerking upturned palm, "Yet here you are, nathith, secluding yourself, all that you're worth, to your chambers. Scoffing in disdain, varnishing your finger nails, when you could be doing what you were foretold to do - to shine your light -,"

"Atan, please," the body's voice spoke, silencing him mid word, finally participating in what had seemed a one-sided conversation. She set the tool meant for rubbing down to shape and smooth her nails on the cushion beside her hip and looked up at her father, who was still fuming, but could never, in all the ages, fully appear angry with her. There was always a softness around his eyes, a stiffness to his shoulders that wasn't construed completely by animosity, but also by discomfort in having to speak to her in such a way. With a sigh she brought her legs to slide off the sofa, sitting upright as her bare feet touched the stony floor. "A myriad of moments you have come beseeching this very same tale, and every time I tell you I shall not remove myself to give aid to those people of Middle Earth. Now is no different, I will not be swayed." She stood from her couch, taking her filing instrument with her and strode to her vanity.

"Ghivashel," Aulë said, pleading yet stern, following her with his eyes. She paused in step for the barest moment and rolled her eyes at his choice of language, then continued to sit upon her cushioned stool. The vanity beared no mirror, there was no need for looking glasses for one to reflect upon their image in Aman. She glided her fingers over the glass stoppers of numerous tiny flasks filled with varying colours and sheens. Aulë continued, knowing he still held claim over her attention though she occupied herself with her varnishes, "You know not the amount of pleading I devoted to Eru to allow another creation life - not another moulded by my own hands, but with the equal support and involvement from your mother. Eru Iluvatar endured our begging until at long last he obliged in the creation and granting of life to you, silmenya."

Her back had gone rigid during his telling, she held a vial of pellucid colour so tightly in her grasp it threatened to crack as she grated out, "I know the story, atan."

Aulë kept on, "It was only with the promise that you should grow to become a figure of prominence, one that should love the children of Ea and protect them against Morgoth's dark forces that he would grant you life."

She stood with such momentum the stool tipped back and skidded a few feet away, she thrust the glass vial in her clenched fist to thud hard against the vanity, shattering the bottle of liquid in her grip and forcing the remaining to clatter in distress. Her long pearly toned hair, always free of circlets or bindings or intricate arrangements, flared around her as she turned, "Atan, I refuse!" she roared, and let loose the shards of glass from her clenched palm to fall and tinkle to the floor, no hint of blood on the pieces, no sign of injury or scar on her skin. "They are a vain, boorish, greedy collection of races and should stand up against their foes on their own! And should they fall let it be so! Let them fall! Without the Maiar intervening we shall let the strongest thrive!"

"You are an ignorant, lonely, selfish little girl!" Aulë burst, his voice like an earthquake, shaking the ground they stood upon, shaking the girl's resolve, her eyes widened, and she stumbled a step backward, hand finding purchase on the vanity to lean against. "This was my last chance to convince you gently! You shall be well versed in the woes of the people of Middle Earth first hand. You will no longer hold apathy for them; once you have learned, you will weep for and with them, else I have failed as a father!"

Her eyes grew rounder, brow climbing up her forehead, "What are you talking about..." she murmured, but Aulë was shaking his head sorrowfully, gaze cast toward the floor. "Atan," she said, "Adad?" she tried quietly, measuring careful steps toward him. He tilted his head back, and she saw a tortured look upon his face, but something else as well, his aura growing brighter, more apparent and vibrant - he was summoning his Valar power. It was a rare thing for a Valar to summon their power in Aman, none had used their gifted power since dawn of the Second Age, and some even longer before then. One thing she knew very clearly, though, summoning power didn't usually mean something good. She sprinted to the archway of her chambers and bellowed, "Amil! Amad! Mother, please!" She made to step through, but she found she could not place a single toe beyond the doorway. She gasped, trying in vain to step through again until she ultimately turned back and faced her father.

"As your ontaro I know what is best for you, and it is my duty guide you down the correct path. I think this shall teach you respect and empathy, and a great many other things. My daughter, cálnya, I expel you now from Valinor upon Aman; you shall not return until the quest is finished, and have appreciated why I have done this,"Aulë intoned, voice like a shuddering mountain. She found feel herself moving without her concession, feet lifting from the ground, heels only dragging lightly against the worn floor until she remained two feet before her father, suspended, constricted of movement. His eyes shined like windows containing an irrepressible light, exploding with power, no longer the warm brown that reminded her of fresh earth. He brushed the back of his fingers along her cheek, a sad tilt to his lips, "Amin mela lle."

"Atad, please," she begged with a broken sob. She still wasn't certain what this was, but considering her current situation, and his explanation of exiling her, she knew it would not bode well for her. She didn't want to lose the comforts of her home, her leisure, the wide beautiful expanse of Valinor, her place among the Valar, her parents.

Aulë had hesitated once in his immortal life, this would not be the second instance. He closed his eyes, took his hand from his daughter's face, and in the next moment felt her presence cease to fill the room.

His power dulled, but he did not venture to open his eyes, too hurt to do so and find himself alone, realise what he had done. But it was all for the greater good, her good, and all of Ea's good. He nodded, assuring himself quietly, "This will save her."

Feet padding against stone growing closer caused him to finally raise his eye lids, and a second later he saw his wife walk through the archway, "What is it? What is the matter?" she wondered, eyes scanning for their child who had called for her so desperately. Her brow scrunched in confusion, she looked to her husband, the lone occupant of the chamber, "Where is she? I do not..." she paused, seeming to focus and reach out with her mind, still seeking what would not be found, "I do not sense her being, nor can I gain contact with her spirit..." Her eyes took in the scene of the room, so empty when it was always inhabited by their lone child. It was constant assurance, she was always here, but - It could not have happened again, she would not allow it. She surged forward, taking hold of her husband's shoulders in a fierce frenzy, "Aulë, what has happened?! Where is she?!"

"Kementárinya, I had no other choice, and it will be good for her. She will be under the guidance and protection of Olórin," Aulë reassured gently, bringing his own hands to pluck her grip from him before replacing his hands on her shoulders.

She surged away, "What have you done to her?! Our daughter!" she shrieked, "You've sent her away?! For what purpose? For what purpose?!" she went at him with fists clenched and beat at his chest, the trees outside the wide windows trembled and groaned.

He caught her wrists in a soft grip, stilling her beatings, "Yavanna, I beg you, my darling, hear my words. It was not solely my design to send her forth from Aman. She needs this lest she be destroyed."

Yavanna stilled completely, shock rendering her motionless - the trees ceased their groaning movements. Aulë pressed on, "He called to counsel me, he said, we each of us have a purpose, do we not? And I agreed, of course. Then he said she was not fulfilling her purpose, he said she was filled with an anger toward the World and life we created in it, those who she was meant to protect. I told Eru I would overcome her hatred and persuade her to become what she was intended. And if she would not agree I would banish her so that she will learn their trials, and she would sympathise. She will hurt, she will cry, she will laugh, she will rejoice, and she will love and mourn. She will work hard and know the true bliss of reward. All this she shall learn, she will understand, and she will become the guardian she was meant to be."

His wife emitted a gasping whimper of a noise, "So you set her upon the World with no direction, no path to follow to prove her worth?"

"Of course not, my love. An opportune moment has presented itself; something I feel quite pleased with, actually. She will be among the company of Durinsfolk."

"Khazad?!" she sprang away from his embrace, pacing to the window, "You've put our daughter in the hands of your dwarves?!"

Aulë frowned, befuddlement written on his brow, "My darling, what is the matter?"

Yavanna took a long breath before sighing deeply, and wondering lowly, "At the very least, let me be soothed in knowing you did not strip her power from her."

No immediate answer was given, she kept her eyes firmly planted on the outside world beyond the window, fingers carving deep gouges into the stone sill. Aulë let out a wary sigh of his own.

"She must earn it."

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Probably not using '-nya' with all those Elvish words correctly, yikes, apologies for that. I have done hours upon hours of LOTR related research and studied Khuzdul and Elvish dictionaries, but I'm still not so great in the Tolkien knowledge department, so if anyone has any corrections, go ahead and throw 'em at me.

Translations:

Khuzdul

nathith - daughter

ghivashel - treasure of all treasures

adad - father

amad- mother

Quenya

silmenya - my starlight

atan - father

amil - mother

ontaro - parents, begetter

cálnya - my light

Amin mela lle - I love you

Kementárinya - my Earth-queen

Obviously this is an added OC story, a female original character - WOW, what a surprise - and like I said, done the research, still not so knowledgable, but I'm trying to make this seem plausible - as plausible as a story of a story of a fantasty world can be. Uh, I know this first bit seemed kinda murky, but if you're up for it, just bear with me.

Thanks for reading!