Nienor and the Golden Fish by Anérea

Ye Xian's tale is very similar to that of Cinderella: she is the motherless daughter of a chieftain who then dies, leaving her in the hands of her cruel stepmother and unkind stepsister. A magical wish granting figure in the form of a golden fish sent from the sky as a guardian by her ever-present mother comes to aid her through her dark home life, and she eventually marries a king who takes her away from the hardship.

In my crossover there’s no need for Nienor to have a wicked stepmother because there’s already a very, very wicked Vala, and her father doesn’t die but instead gets gets himself captured and bound to a very high peak, as you all know. And she doesn’t have unkind stepsisters, but instead a very well intentioned yet disastrously cursed older brother and a beloved sister, Lalaith, who dies before she is born. Sometime in her too-short life, Lalaith meets the Maia of the river that is her namesake, who takes on the form of a large, chatty golden fish. After her death from the Evil Breath, Lalaith’s spirit begs the Maia-fish to take care of her family. Turin is so bleak and angry after the loss of his sister and Morwen so bitter that they don’t take much head of the fish. However Nienor, born after all those events, finds great solace in the golden fish’s company, and it is with the fish's aid that they manage to survive those evil years far better than many others. As Morgoth’s power encroaches and Ulmo starts to withdraw from the river Sirion, so must his Maia in the river Lalaith, who encourages Nienor to convince her Mother that they must leave Hithlum and travel to the safety of Doriath.

Events might have gone a bit differently if the fish had been able to accompany them, but in the end they only briefly reunited in the river before Nienor went on beyond the Circles of the World.

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^{(Click the image to view it fitted to screen)}

I just found my original concept sketch made over half a year ago. There are elements I prefer in this sketch and others I like in the painting. They each have a different mood so I decided to include the sketch too.