Finally back to writing this story after SO much writer's block! It took TWO movies being released for me to finally return to this... But I'm back, and hope to keep it that way for a while!

Enjoy this chapter, and the possibly cringe writing it contains!

"...Well, guess I'll see you in the morning, Lame-O!" Ronnie Anne smiled, as she faced Lincoln once they arrived at the doorway leading into the latter's room.

The rain had arrived a couple hours ago, being visible out the many windows of the room. Dark clouds blocked out any sign of the sun in the sky, with them all accumulated over the town and surrounding countryside. The majority of the castle had decided that it'd be best to either relax, or turn in for the night completely.

Lincoln had decided that he wanted to be alone with his thoughts for a while, especially so he could brainstorm for the future. Ronnie Anne had decided to walk with him to his room before going to hers, which happened to be nearby.

Course, due to the size of the castle, the walk took quite a while. But they had finally reached Lincoln's room, sharing a small hug as they parted ways.

"See you in the morning too, Ronnie Anne... Sleep well!" Lincoln smiled back, parting from the hug soon after.

"I will! Gonna be hard not to in a place this comfy..." Ronnie Anne remarked.

With that, she walked off to head to her guest room... Which happened to be the largest guest room the castle had available. Weird how it was "randomly" selected for her by chance, guess she had just gotten lucky.

Before Lincoln could go into his room, Bobby came by. He was carrying his guitar with him as he walked down the hall, adjusting the cords on it.

"You heading to bed too, Bobby?" Lincoln asked as he saw him, curious.

"Nah! Not yet... Still need to work on finishing the song for her birthday... It's only in a couple weeks from now after all!" Bobby remarked, holding his guitar. "It needs to be perfect! Can't pause practice just because we're here!"

He skipped off to his guest room, strumming notes on the guitar as he went. Lincoln couldn't help but smile.

"Oh, I'm sure it will be..." Lincoln smiled, finding the planned gesture sweet.

It sorta reminded him that Luna had the same tendency of making songs for his own birthdays. He liked that reminder.

Just as he was about to close the door to his room to get some much needed alone time in for himself... Lincoln's action was stopped as a different hand that wasn't his own held the door open.

He exhaled deeply, not even having to look to see who the hand belonged to. Lincoln already knew.

"What do you want now? Here to complain more about the Casagrandes coming to visit us?" Lincoln deadpanned at Morag's arrival at the doorway of his room.

The Groundskeeper cleared her throat, deciding not to refute that. "Well, seeing as now that you're finally done speaking and interacting with your girlfriend for-"

"She's not my girlfriend. We're just friends..." Lincoln grumbled as he cut her off, trying to shake away a blush he felt forming.

"And I'm an innocent woman. See? I can lie too." Morag snarked, putting her arms crossed behind her back.

"What do you want?: Lincoln flatly asked, moments away from slamming the door shut in the former-tyrant's face.

"Nothing sire... Your presence is fulfilling enough." Morag sarcastically claimed, clearly having zero genuineness in her tone.

Lincoln scoffed, "Could have fooled me after what you pulled on our family... For all we know, you're planning out a second attempt to get rid of us."

Morag scoffed with an eye roll, before looking at Lincoln with a hint of condescending tone in her voice.

"Oh please... I already tried to get rid of you once, you'd be expecting it if I tried again. What's the point if I already know what the outcome would be? Exiled, or worse..." She murmured.

"You're crazier than I thought if you think I'm gonna trust your word on that." Lincoln flatly replied.

"Well, to each their own, Loud..." Morag remarked, closing the door behind her as she stepped inside the room fully. "You seemed rather trusting of me previously."

"Yeah, that was BEFORE you tried to roast my entire family alive in front of me with Lela..." Lincoln scowled at the memory, "And you used my past insecurities against me in the worst way possible."

Morag snorted at a specific word Lincoln had used in his sentence.

"What do you mean 'past' insecurities, Loud?" Morag questioned, "That implies you've gotten over them."

Lincoln hesitated, stumbling his speech. "I-I did! I proved myself as special! I fought for that! I saved the town and the people... From you." Lincoln pointed out, his tone slightly flattening at the end part.

"Oh please, you still HAVE those insecurities. They haven't gone anywhere... Even with that glimmering crown on your head, I can absolutely tell that hasn't changed your emotions at all." Morag bluntly observed.

Lincoln was silent for a few moments, as if trying to think of a response to refute that... But came up empty.

Because as much as he hated to admit it, she was right. Lincoln had the crown, and the admiration of the whole town... But he still didn't feel completely fulfilled or satisfied. The problem was that Lincoln just didn't even know what he felt was missing...

"What do you even care if they have or not? I'm still not gonna listen to you... Not after what you did." Lincoln stayed firm in his decision.

"Well, look at it this way... You don't HAVE to listen to me per say. I'm at least someone who's able to listen to YOUR worries and somewhat whiny insecurities, Loud." Morag snorted slightly.

"Gee... How comforting." Lincoln deadpanned, turning to walk away from her and over to the window.

He gazed out at the stormy lake, which it's waves were flowing in the direction of the heavy winds. It almost looked comforting in a way... Course, Lincoln imagined the poor dock workers and sailors thought very differently to him.

"Surely you want to at least lighten the load of your problems by talking out loud about it... Consider me someone who's rather obligated to listen." Morag continued, walking up behind him.

"Wouldn't that mean I'm also obligated to tell you to go away?" Lincoln flatly retorted, not even turning to look at her, only keeping eye contact with the groundkeeper's reflection in the window.

"I'm surprised that after everything that happened... You didn't tell your sisters how you really feel about them hogging all the spotlight, while you wallow in the shadows of their fame." Morag murmured, ignoring Lincoln's jab.

"I DON'T wallow in their shadows... Not anymore at least." Lincoln snapped back, the remark having hit a nerve. "I got the crown now, AND the town's admiration!"

"Not for long... If the town stays broke like this, who do you think they'll begin to shift their blame to?" Morag pointed out, not being able to prevent a small smirk from appearing on her face. "The person wearing the crown... That's who."

Lincoln exhaled, once again hating the fact she was probably right. If Lincoln couldn't find a way to solve the situation the town had now found itself in, people were gonna start turning on him... And the last thing Lincoln wanted was for that to happen. Not again.

"Being in the shadows has it's downsides... But so does being in the spotlight." Morag clicked her tongue. "Doesn't life just suck sometimes, Loud?"

"Did you just come up here to try and ruin my good mood? Is that it?" Lincoln deadpanned, trying his hardest to produce an annoyed glare. He had managed to shake himself out of the rut his brain had been heading in.

"Oh no, I originally came up to inform you there was a kid at the doors of the castle, asking to see you." Morag shrugged casually.

"...What?" Lincoln blinked, wanting more context.

"He's young, wearing glasses, and African-American... Holding a cake. Heavily resembles that one boy you were talking to on that video call a couple weeks ago..." Morag continued.

But she wasn't able to continue further, as that description was already enough for Lincoln to know who she was talking about.

"CLYDE'S HERE?!" Lincoln exclaimed, shocked at the realization.

"Ah, yes! That's his name! Was trying to remember it on the way up here and just couldn't recall it..." Morag nodded.

"AND YOU JUST LEFT HIM STANDING OUT IN THE RAIN WHILE WE WERE TALKING UP HERE?!" Lincoln exclaimed again, baffled.

"Well, I figured you'd want me to consult you before-"

Morag wasn't even able to finish her sentence, as Lincoln rushed past her... At a speed nearly fast enough to knock her over, with the Groundskeeper barely able to keep her balance.

"You know, shoving past me isn't necessary Loud!" She yelled after him, annoyed at Lincoln for zooming past.

But Lincoln didn't respond as he slammed the door to the room open, making a beeline for the front doors of the castle.

Morag scoffed as she watched him go. "Lord above..." She mumbled to herself, before walking off with a faint smirk.

She hadn't gotten all she wanted out of that conversation, but it was a start on her end at least. It was something she could still work with.

Lincoln was still running down the hall towards the entrance hall of the castle, wasting no time as he went.

In doing so, he rushed by Luna who happened to be relaxing in the hall while trying to do certain notes on her bagpipes.

"Hey bro, what's the-" Luna began to question, but Lincoln had already rushed past her.

Curious and slightly concerned, she decided to get up and follow after him, trying to pick her pace up to match her baby brother's.

Soon enough, Lincoln had reached the front door and yanked it open. Standing right in the doorway out in the rain... Was Clyde. He was drenched from the rain, and was holding something large in his hands covered by a cloth.

"L-Lincoln! There y-you are!" Clyde stuttered out, shivering from the cold rain coating him.

"CLYDE! What the heck are you doing here?!" Lincoln exclaimed, not sure whether to be shocked or delighted. "I thought you were back in Royal Woods!"

"I-I was... Then I came here... It was a l-long trip..." Clyde explained, still shivering.

Lincoln, seeing how drenched his friend was, quickly dragged Clyde inside, and shut the doors behind him.

"Geez, you look like you're freezing!" Lincoln remarked, concern lacing his tone as he led Clyde over to sit down on a nearby bench.

He helped set down what Clyde was holding onto the bench, before then helping the latter sit down.

It was at that moment Luna finally caught up, and gasped at the sight of Clyde.

"Wait, Clyde?! What's he doing-?" Luna began to ask, shocked at the sight of him.

"Lunes, just go get a towel! He's soaked!" Lincoln ordered without even letting her finish, let alone give an answer; gesturing for her to hurry in the process.

"Yep, yep! On it dude!" Luna nodded, understanding Lincoln's want for a fast pace.

She rushed off to go fetch the towel, leaving Clyde and Lincoln alone.

"Why are you here, bud?! I mean, I'm glad to see you... But why did you come? Especially in THIS sort of weather?" Lincoln questioned, baffled on his friend's sudden arrival.

"I-I had to see you..." Clyde managed to stutter out as he shivered from the cold of the rain water that had him soaked, "I brought the cake I made for you!"

He then took the cloth off what he had been carrying... Revealing the mentioned decently sized cake under it.

Lincoln glanced at the cake Clyde had set down on the bench. It was an orange cake with white frosting, with words on the side that read 'Congrats Lincoln!'... But under the frosting text were some crossed out words that could be made out to instead read 'Welcome Home Lincoln!'.

"Ohhh..." Lincoln could only murmur with a small wince, seeing the crossed out words on the cake.

Lincoln realized now that maybe Clyde had been faking his emotions about the news of him moving to Scotland. He had hung up pretty quickly after Lincoln gave him the news, which should have tipped him off on that.

Now he wasn't going to lie, Lincoln was pretty upset with himself for not seeing the hints to that earlier. Guess he was just too excited about the prospect of being in the spotlight...

"You uh... Didn't take the news well... Did you?" Lincoln awkwardly observed.

Clyde didn't respond beyond simply shaking his head, his shivering slowly beginning to stop thankfully. But that was just about the only positive thing happening to Clyde at the moment.

"Yeah, maybe I was a bit blunt about it..." Lincoln remarked sheepishly, before exhaling. "I'm really sorry, bud. I just was so excited about being the Duke..."

"No, no!" Clyde quickly spoke up, "You don't have to be sorry... I'm happy for you, man! Just it's a lot to process with the fact you won't be living close by anymore... And that we won't be able to read comics side by side anymore. Or that we'll never be able to play video games on the same couch-"

Lincoln noticed Clyde's voice had begun to crack a bit as he continued rambling on about the things the two wouldn't be able to do anymore... Which only served to twist the knife of guilt Lincoln had already been feeling.

He knew Clyde would probably have taken the news bad, that part was something Lincoln felt was inevitable... But seeing how bad he was taking it wasn't something Lincoln felt good about. In fact, quite the opposite.

It was probably those feelings that made him say the first thing off the top of his head that would maybe help Clyde feel better.

"Hey! Maybe you can stay for a little while! A week or two! We can hang out around the castle and town! That'd be nice, huh?" Lincoln blurted out, without putting much thought behind the idea.

Clyde paused his rambling, a bit of hope appearing in his eyes. "Wait, you really mean that?" He asked, now interested.

"Yeah, of course! We'd just need to get your Dads' permission for you to stay a bit longer!" Lincoln added, "I mean, the fact they let you come here on your own at all is surprising!"

"...Yes! Totally! They said I could come here... Definitely didn't just come here without even letting them know due to how compulsive my emotions had me feeling!" Clyde grinned nervously, the lie pretty obvious.

"Okay, that might be a problem..." Lincoln winced, knowing how Clyde's dads would most likely react to their son having randomly vanished. "We should probably give them a call."

Just then, Luna returned with a heavy towel, which she brought over and draped over Clyde. "There you go little dude, that should help dry you up." She softly told him.

Clyde managed a small smile. "Thanks Luna..." He replied to the gesture.

"Welp, let's go make that call! Might as well do that while you're warming up..." Lincoln remarked.

"Alright... Sounds good." Clyde nodded a bit, beginning to warm up and calm down.

With the help of Luna, Clyde got off of the bench, and walked off to go call his Dads. Luna followed behind him as he went up the stairs, keeping close as if to make sure he didn't trip.

Lincoln clicked his tongue, getting up to join them both... Before deciding to turn back and go over to the cake, taking a slice from it.

Clyde had brought it all the way here (somehow), so Lincoln figured he might as well have one slice, right? After he took the slice, he got a fork from his pocket, and took a bite of it. Lincoln nodded his head, the taste hitting the buds on his tongue perfectly.

"Mmm, just the right amount of cinnamon..." Lincoln murmured, a smile appearing on his face from the taste.

The only Loud boy then exhaled, deciding to think more positively for a while as he walked off to join Clyde and Luna.

After all, Lincoln couldn't really imagine how things could get possibly more chaotic from this point!

Miles away in an unknown location:

The storm had been exactly the chance the boy had been waiting for. There was a hole in the ceiling of the building that hadn't been patched up in weeks, and now it was beginning to show with the rain pouring down on top of it.

The water drizzled through the hole, and onto the cage door, which loosened the already rusty lock on it. With a well timed yet still weak kick to it, he managed to break it open.

Thankfully, the boy had timed it to match with the sound of the thunder, so nobody was any the wiser of the fact the door was now broken open. He slunk out of the cage, and into the hallway. Not being able to go too fast due to how weak his legs were from the pain they had been put through recently.

He had managed to get a basic idea of how to exit the building from the amount of times he had seen others use the same route. Eventually, his good memory paid off, managing to find an exit door that had been left cracked open in the rush to get inside away from the storm.

With a heave, the boy managed to push the door open completely, and fell right out onto the ground. Grass had never felt more comforting to feel, even if it was sopping wet from the raging storm. The rain poured onto him, getting him just as wet as the grass below him in no time at all.

He weakly trudged through the mud towards the open forest for shelter and safety from being seen, which coated his furry legs and hooves with it as he went. He didn't care where he was going, as long as it was as far away as possible.

The boy thought about what the future held for him... But didn't see any light at the end of the tunnel he had found himself entering.

He had escaped his cage... But somehow he didn't feel free yet.

And that wraps up the first arc for Loud Castle! The next arc will most likely focus more on the Casagrande's family time in Loch Loud, and the Louds settling into their new home completely... Alongside the first appearances of a few new faces that'll be large parts of the story going forward.

And yes, in case you're wondering, I WILL be including events from TCM and No Time to Spy later in the AU's story (more sooner than later for the former). So stay tuned for that!

Remember to leave a favorite and review if you enjoyed! See you in the next arc of this story!