D2 Duke
Taking the stairs to the second level of the castle, Mira found an ornate archway above the entrance to one corridor. As she entered under it, she saw several paintings hung on each side of the hall. Standing in the middle of the corridor was Duke L'Orange. He didn't turn towards her as he remained still and studied a painting.
"Still here, eh?" he finally said as she approached.
"Yeah, I'm gonna stick around for a bit longer."
"A bit could become a long time if you're not careful," Duke warned.
"Well, it would be nice if someone went over the rules of this place. Maybe then I'd know what was I getting into."
"Rules?" Duke scoffed with an amused expression as he faced her. "Kid, no one really understand the rules here."
"Well, you obviously know more than I do," Mira protested.
"The only one you really need to know is to hide yourself somewhere secure when night falls. Though like I said, it might just be better for you to try to leave sooner rather than later. Even if you do get some answers, no one's sayin' you're gonna like what you find."
Mira considered that for a moment.
"Just tell me this. If you could leave, you would want to, right?" she asked.
Duke grew quiet before finally saying.
"That's a more complicated question than you know. But yeah, I guess if I could leave, with my friends that is, then I would."
"So you're all in some kind of trouble here?" Mira said. It was really more of an observation than a question. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"No, not really, kid, but that's sweet of you to ask."
Mira crossed her arms over her chest.
"I'm getting a little tired of being told… 'You should leave.' or 'There's nothing you can do.' There has to be something you can tell me."
Duke returned to looking at the painting in front of him. It appeared to be a castle wrapped in mist, but the forms appeared a little rough.
"Ya know, if I had to be stuck somewhere, why'd it have to be with terrible art? This piece here is pathetic."
Mira cast a skeptical gaze it.
"Yeah, I guess it is pretty bad. Is that important for some reason?"
Duke shook his head as he started to back away. Mira turned her attention the painting on her left.
"This one here looks a little better. The way the artist portrayed the light from the candle on the wall is interesting, but what's this?"
She pointed to a dark shape behind the candlelight. Duke stopped and followed her gaze. His expression grew more serious and a strange coldness entered his tone when he said,
"It's a shadow."
"Whose shadow?" Mira persisted. "The candle is just sitting on a table by itself."
Duke turned and began walking away as he said,
"Yeah, that's the point."
He left her alone in the hall, and Mira glanced back at the painting with an impatient glare.
"Well, that explains nothing. There should be a painting here of someone running into walls, because that would definitely be me."
If you want to hear what the other ducks have to say, then select D2 _(their name)_ from the list. It doesn't matter what order you follow, except that Wildwing should be last.