Title: Feet
Summary: A series of connected vignettes set throughout the Quest about hobbit feet.
Fandom: LOTR
Disclaimer: All characters, settings and events referenced in the story belong to the Tolkien Family.
Author: Endaewen
Rating: G

Slivers:

The most common incidents were where one or another of the hobbits would step on a thorn, or once or twice, a large sliver. That tended to happen once or twice a week. I'm surprised it didn't happen more often, but that might have had something to do with their ability to move so silently. At that skill, they easily outdo most of the Rangers I know, including myself. No-one knows precisely how they manage that feat, but I suspect it has a lot to do with observing their surroundings.

By the time my first week in their company had ended, I found that the hobbits were well experienced with the problem, and had a system for dealing with thorns and slivers, that took only moments. It was a co-operative venture, where one of the others would pull it out, as the soles of your own feet are hard to reach. Generally, that was all that was needed. However, sometimes it was more difficult.

Our first day past the Midgewater Marshes, Frodo was limping. Sam was the first to notice it, but, from what I overheard, Frodo said it was nothing, but when Sam persisted, he said that he thought he must have bruised his foot on a stone, that's all. Still, by the time we made camp late that afternoon, I could see that he wasn't any better. In fact, all the hobbits were somewhat tender-footed for some reason. Thinking about it later, I decided that the previous two days in the wet marshes must have softened the soles of their feet temporarily, making them more sensitive to the harder ground we were on now. Either way, whatever was affecting them went away within a day or so with no ill-effects.

I could see that Frodo had a problem, but I didn't know how to approach him about it. None of the hobbits trusted me yet, though Frodo, I think, did more than the others, so I didn't want to be too pressuring. However, I couldn't just leave it and hope that whatever was causing the injury would just go away for two reasons. One, that I knew what Frodo was carrying, and what pursued us and any injury left untreated could slow us down and leave the Ringbearer more vulnerable to the forces of the Enemy. And, secondly and most important, it went against my instincts and training to leave anyone in unnecessary pain when I have a chance to try and help, especially someone who was becoming a friend.

After some thought, I decided not to approach Frodo just yet. All four of the hobbits were adults (or so I presumed, not knowing their exact ages) and could be assumed to know how to take care of themselves and each other. If it was still a problem in the morning however, I would find a way.

The next morning, whatever had been bothering Frodo the day before was still clearly a problem when I woke him with the other three. I had taken the last watch, noticing that that was the most difficult for the hobbits. I watched him limping as he packed his gear together. "Are you all right, Frodo?" I asked quietly. I didn't want to make a big fuss of whatever was bothering the hobbit. Frodo nodded his reply, but at the same time, grimaced as he stepped on his sore foot. "Are you sure? We've got a long day ahead of us," I nodded towards Weathertop, our goal, visible against the sky, still at least a day's travel at our current pace.

"I'm pretty sure it's just a bruise, nothing to worry about," he said uncomfortably.

"Would you let me check, just to be sure?" I asked. After a moment, Frodo nodded, clearly somewhat embarrassed at the attention. He sat where I pointed to, close to the fire. There wasn't much visible on his sore foot, just a bit of redness around the heel area, but when I felt the area gently, I could tell that it was the problem spot. There was a hard lump under the callus, that made Frodo hiss a bit when I probed it. Clearly, the problem was more than a mere bruise, and I said so to the hobbits who had gathered around while I was busy. It seemed more like an abscess, and would need to be drained.

At Frodo's nod, I did so. The preparations were quick, there was hot water left from breakfast. Within minutes the abscess was drained and cleaned and we found what had caused it in the first place: a bit of thorn. It must have broken off when the rest of the thorn was removed a few days before.

At any rate, Frodo's foot healed without any trouble after that, and a few days later you would never have known it had happened in the first place.

All four of them were more careful about slivers and thorns after that, making sure that the whole thing was removed. That was the only incident of that kind for the entire trip, thank goodness. Luckily there weren't any further problems from the abscess for Frodo after it was drained. I had been somewhat afraid that it would become infected. We had little in the way of first aid supplies with us, and all I had been able to do was make sure the area was kept as clean as possible until it healed.