"Teron, don't worry. There's nothing wrong with my body..." Malone looked at Teron Gorefiend and suddenly felt that he'd been a little too distant earlier.
Although Teron was a Death Knight and an Orc to the core, he had helped Malone so much that Malone couldn't bring himself to keep him at arm's length.
"But you ate something!" Teron Gorefiend looked at Malone's stomach, then suggested, "Why not cut it open? Then take out your intestines and squeeze all that stuff out."
Then I'd be dead for sure! Malone was horrified by Teron Gorefiend's suggestion.
"Anyway, maybe my body's a little different from yours, but I'm fine... And don't go looking for Gul'dan." Malone looked Teron Gorefiend in the eye.
"Even if you say so..." Teron Gorefiend muttered.
"Promise me, Teron." Malone grabbed Teron Gorefiend by the shoulders. "Don't tell anyone the secret of my body. No one! We're brothers, right?"
"Mm... all right." Malone's trump card worked just as he'd expected. As soon as Teron Gorefiend heard the word "brothers," he agreed, though he still seemed reluctant.
"Phew..." Malone had just let out a breath of relief after sorting things out with Teron Gorefiend when a little... problem cropped up with Tiffany.
"Mr. Malone..." Tiffany spoke softly.
"What is it?" Malone looked at Tiffany and saw that her face was flushed. Her knees were pressed tightly together, pinning her pink lace skirt between them, while both hands nervously clutched its hem.
"I... I need to..." Tiffany hesitated for a long moment, but finally blurted it out. "I need to pee..."
"Oh..." Malone nodded and said nothing.
A little while later, while still tidying up the clay pot, Malone finally caught on—she needed to use the bathroom! You idiot, why are you still standing here?
But Malone was still too slow to react, and Tiffany's voice had already taken on a hint of a sob.
"Could you... could you two just..." Tiffany seemed so desperate that she couldn't even finish her sentence. Fortunately, Malone had been around enough to know what he should do.
"Teron, come with me!" Malone grabbed Teron Gorefiend, who had no idea what Tiffany was trying to say, and hurried out of the tent.
"Phew..." Tiffany let out a quiet breath, then braced herself against the nearby post and slowly tried to stand.
Even in a situation like this, a well-bred young lady would find it difficult to manage, but Tiffany still didn't want to "go right where she stood"—at the very least, she could go to a corner of the tent!
Malone had pulled Teron Gorefiend outside the tent. Glancing back at the canvas that screened off the interior, Teron asked curiously, "Maicomarlon, why did you bring me out here?"
"She needs to use the bathroom. Why do you think I brought you out? Did you want to watch?" Malone replied irritably. He was a little worried that Tiffany might mistake his slow reaction for perversion.
"What's so interesting about watching someone pee..." Teron Gorefiend curled his lip in disdain, then suddenly asked, "Maicomarlon, you can understand what that woman's saying?"
"Of course. You can't?" Malone asked in return. He remembered that, according to Blizzard's lore, Teron Gorefiend could speak Common.
"You can teach me?" Teron Gorefiend showed great interest in Common. "If I learn the humans' language and writing, it could help us defeat them."
Teron Gorefiend couldn't speak Common? Malone was surprised. Could it be...
A bold guess suddenly occurred to Malone. Could one of the things this nobody, "Maicomarlon," had done be teaching Teron Gorefiend Common? That was just... unbelievable!
"I could, but..." Malone hesitated. "I... I'm planning to leave here."
"What?" At Malone's words, Teron Gorefiend quickly forgot all about Common. "You're leaving? Why? Where are you going?"
"I don't know." Malone shook his head, then glanced back at the wooden tent where Tiffany was. "I want to take her with me. You know she isn't safe here, Teron."
"No. I won't allow it." Teron Gorefiend flatly refused. "What does it matter to you whether that human woman is safe? Maicomarlon, this is your home. You and I—we're brothers. Do you understand? Brothers don't leave each other. Where would you go if you left?"
"Maybe her safety isn't your concern, Teron..." Malone sighed. "But I can't let Orcs like Kaldara violate her. I can't stand by and watch that happen. I don't care what you think; I just can't."
"Then... then we'll leave her here." Teron Gorefiend thought he'd come up with a great solution. "I'll help you. I won't let the other Orcs get near her."
"What good would that do..." Malone was grateful to Teron Gorefiend, but he still didn't think that would solve anything. "I know you're strong, Teron—much stronger than me. But maybe you could stop one Blademaster. What about two? Ten? All the Orcs?"
Teron Gorefiend had no answer. He was confident in his own fighting skills, but even claiming he could take on a single Blademaster would be giving himself too much credit—especially with even stronger Orcs among their ranks.
"Either way, you can't leave." Teron Gorefiend grabbed Malone by the arm. "Maicomarlon, we were friends from the moment we joined the Shadow Council. We fought side by side, and this time we were even resurrected as Death Knights together. You're my friend, closer than my own blood brother. I can't let you leave."
Malone looked at Teron Gorefiend's muscular arm but made no attempt to pull away. From Maicomarlon's memories, he knew that he and Teron Gorefiend had always been close friends, like Orgrim and Durotan—friends from different Orc clans.
Malone was grateful for everything Teron Gorefiend had done for him, but he had to take Tiffany and leave. Humans couldn't live alongside Orcs. All they could bring each other was bloodshed and death.
Once, on Azeroth, there had been a naive woman who believed that humans and Orcs could live in peace. She had paid a terrible price for that belief—even allowing her father to die at the hands of his Orc "allies."
But in the end, the Orcs still destroyed her city. Her friends, her students, and her people were all wiped out for the sake of her hopes for peace.
That woman was Jaina—Jaina Proudmoore. Her tragic story had taught Malone that between Orcs and humans, there could only be war, never peace.
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