For those who stumbled into this place by accident, the Rangers clearly had contingency plans in place.
If the one who fell in wasn't Garrett but a Haradrim soldier, or some other enemy, then the moment they hit the ground, they would have been stabbed from behind and had their throat slit by a commando hiding in the shadows.
Most likely without even getting the chance to cry out.
As enemies, these frontline assault troops from Ithilien were indeed formidable.
As friends... they were equally intimidating.
"Why would the legendary lord come here all alone?"
The ambushing Rangers had startled Garrett, but Garrett's arrival had also surprised the Rangers.
A legendary lord with immense influence across all of Middle-earth, though he called himself a "lord," his territory and influence were no less than those of an actual king.
Why would such an important figure come alone to the dangerous southern front, so far from his own lands?
"I have some important business to take care of in Harad," Garrett said solemnly.
"Their fruit is delicious."
"So... you came to...?"
"Stock up on supplies."
"All by yourself?"
"Yes. Just me."
The Rangers fell silent.
Because the enemy's homeland had delicious fruit, he had decided to sneak in alone to buy some.
Just to have a few bites.
Imagine if their own steward did such a thing... utterly unthinkable.
This was like Morgoth suddenly changing his theme in the Great Music, it was completely unprecedented.
Did the people of his territory know he was doing this?
"Don't worry, I left a note before departing. They should be able to see it," he answered their unspoken question.
"Uh… they should be able to see it, right?"
Now they were even more concerned.
Still, this was someone else's affair. Best not to comment, and certainly not to pry.
---
A moment later, deeper inside the cave, in a wide chamber, the captain spoke with Garrett privately.
"I suppose I should introduce myself properly," he said.
"Kane, Captain of the Third Company, Ithilien Rangers."
"As our name suggests, all of us hail from Ithilien. It's no longer fit for living there, the east swarms with Uruk-hai from Mordor, and the south suffers frequent raids by the Haradrim."
"We cannot stand against the full might of either army, but we can do what we do best, when they set foot in Ithilien, letting their guard down is the same as baring their necks to our blades."
"But this isn't Ithilien," Garrett pointed out.
This was Harondor; only by crossing the Poros River to the north would you reach Ithilien. That river essentially marked the southern border of Gondor.
"True," Kane admitted.
Facing Garrett, he made no attempt to conceal their intelligence:
"Lately, the Haradrim have strangely ceased their raids. In fact, their forward troops have even withdrawn from Ithilien's borders and retreated to their strongholds. The Ruling Steward suspects some greater scheme may be behind this, so he sent us across the river to investigate."
"That is unusual," Garrett agreed with a nod.
"But we haven't found anything. It's been... peaceful lately."
Peaceful.
Garrett didn't know what to say to that.
You call this peaceful, when your captain was captured by the enemy, several members wounded, and one even taken prisoner?
What kind of fighting did you used to endure, then?
"Gondor will remember your aid."
With official matters concluded, Kane continued in a more relaxed tone:
"What will you do next? If you're heading north, we can send some of our men with you until you reach safe territory."
Garrett chuckled at that.
Escort him?
"Relax. There's nothing in this region that can threaten me.. You should send your soldiers where they're more needed."
"More importantly..."
He walked deeper into the cave. There, more than a dozen wounded sat or lay silently on the ground, tending to their own injuries without complaint.
This outpost held only seventy or eighty men total, and nearly half were wounded, that wasn't a promising sign.
"I happen to know how to brew potions that heal wounds. And I recently found the last missing main ingredient."
"Maybe your men can help me test it."
Potions?
Kane pondered for a moment, then recalled, there really was a rumor about this lord: that he could brew miraculous healing draughts.
Trustworthy.
Pop.
An ender chest appeared. Garrett retrieved a brewing stand and some nether wart, dug a two-meter-wide pit beside him to create an infinite water source, then placed a few blocks of dirt next to it, tilled the soil, planted watermelon seeds, and accelerated their growth with bone meal.
Just like that, a simple potion-brewing and raw material production setup was complete.
All that remained was to wait, for the watermelon to mature. This part involved some randomness: if lucky, it could happen the very next second; if unlucky, it might take a day or two.
Pop.
As he was considering this, a perfectly cubic watermelon suddenly appeared, growing on the soil beside its vine.
"Looks like we're in luck."
He patted the watermelon, its crisp sound echoing through the cave.
Kane turned toward the noise, his gaze somewhat bewildered.
"How... did this thing grow?"
Unable to resist, he crouched down and tapped the watermelon twice with his hand. Immediately, cracks began to spread across its surface; when he stopped, the cracks stopped as well.
Garrett continued the motion, and with a pop, the watermelon split into several large chunks, falling to the ground.
"Will they continue growing like this in the future?" Kane asked.
"Of course they will."
Didn't that mean this outpost would never run short of watermelon to eat?
Thunk.
A crafting table was placed down. Garrett broke a gold ingot into nuggets, combined them with the watermelon slices to create glistering melon slices, and put them into the brewing stand along with the Awkward Potion he had made from nether wart.
Just like that, three fresh bottles of Potion of Healing were ready.
"Give these to the wounded, one bottle each," he instructed.
Kane accepted them without hesitation, harboring no doubt, he himself was living proof of the potion's effectiveness.
Gulp.
More bottles were brewed and distributed to the injured.
"It truly works."
One soldier unwrapped his bandages and stood up immediately, jogging a few steps left and right.
"Remarkable effect."
"Even the injury to my bone has vanished."
"My chest wound has healed completely."
Everything was improving.
"You've not only saved my life, you've saved the lives of many of my men," Kane said, unable to suppress his smile now that he'd confirmed all his soldiers were fully recovered.
"It's nothing," Garrett replied, packing away the brewing stand and leftover materials into the ender chest before burying it.
"Captain!"
As he was tidying up, a voice came from above the cave entrance. Two soldiers pushed aside some foliage and rappelled down one after the other on ropes.
"Captain, I've returned!"
A gaunt, pale-faced soldier approached them.
Kane immediately stepped forward, gripping the man's shoulders.
"I escaped while the Haradrim weren't watching. You have no idea what they put me through."
The soldier began recounting his ordeal.
"They tortured me, whipped me, refused to give me food, I thought I was going to die several times over."
"But I endured."
He sighed.
"If I hadn't held on, how could I have waited for this opportunity?"
"Welcome back."
All of Kane's emotions condensed into that single sentence as he embraced the soldier.
The gesture seemed to stun the man for a moment.
"Yes... I'm back," he said, quickly returning the embrace.
Meanwhile, his eyes swept the entire outpost, taking in the sight of so many old comrades moving about. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
So many people...
"Yes... yes... I'm back."