A/N: I am taking some liberties with the Imprisoned. I never found him to be particularly scary in the games, so here he will be described closer to likes of King Dodongo from Ocarina of Time/Hyrule Warriors. Much more terrifying than a scaly avocado. ;) I would highly encourage readers to search "King Dodongo Realistic" on Google images to see what has inspired my descriptions of him.
A massive pit opened up in the earth. Blinding flashes of what appeared to be lightning tore through the deep abyss. Link frantically crawled toward the dirt wall, nearly being swallowed up by the pit. His heart stopped whenever he felt the earth at his feet vanish. Reaching the wall, he hugged an exposed root so tightly that his arms immediately ached. His breath caught in his throat as he watched a dark, scaly forelimb emerge from the depths. Its claws, almost larger than Link by themselves, scratched the stone surface, tearing up the terrain as the beast anchored itself. A series of large spikes lined its spine all the way down to its tail. The pillar that had formerly sealed it now served as its frontmost horn.
Once it was fully out of its prison, the devilish creature opened its mouth wide and unleashed a roar so horrendously loud that it shook the earth. The birds and woodland creatures all fled the area, and if he were honest, Link wanted to, too. His hands instinctively flew over his ears, though the vibrations still rattled fiercely in his head. For the first time since setting out on his journey, Link truly doubted himself. Not a shred of confidence in his strength or skill remained standing in the wake of this monstrosity. He had bested the monsters of Skyview Temple (save for the demon lord), he was victorious in the Earth Temple, and had utterly defeated his foes in the Lanayru Mining Facility. But even the Moldarach and the other beasts he'd battled paled compared to the size and sheer horror of the Imprisoned. Not even Link's nightmares of it could have prepared him for how harrowing it was in the flesh.
"I can't do this," he thought to himself, ears still covered, eyes closed.
Fi heard his insecurity.
"Master, if you will try to reseal the Imprisoned, then I will be with you to guide you however I can."
Link shook his head, not wanting to listen.
"Please observe the movement of the Imprisoned, Master."
Link opened his eyes and found that the opening in the ground was gone. The Imprisoned had taken no notice of Link and began a slow climb up the spiraling path, tearing through the terrain with each monstrous step.
"By my projection, he is headed to the Sealed Temple. It is his desire to seek out the Gate of Time, ultimately to find the spirit maiden."
Link flinched. "Zelda!"
Fi's warning unlocked a renewed well of courage and determination. Link felt his sense of dread melting away, replaced with a furious passion to protect his fondest friend.
"You have done well in protecting the spirit maiden thus far, Master. I believe you can and will continue to do so. And I will help you in any way within my power. We cannot let him get to the Sealed Temple."
Link swallowed dryly and nodded, rising to his feet. His grip on the Goddess Sword tightened as he readied himself to give chase. Drawing in a deep breath and saying a silent prayer, he began sprinting toward the beast of his nightmares.
"Does this thing have a weak point?" Link asked as he caught up to the beast. He saw no glowing spot, and no part of its body appeared to be even the least bit penetrable.
"I calculate a zero percent chance of you achieving victory by weakening the beast," Fi replied. "He cannot be killed by the Goddess Sword in this state. He can only be resealed. As previously, you can reseal him by hitting the pillar with a skyward strike."
"Easy enough..." Link said, sarcastically.
The beast's long, thick tail dragged behind it. With each monstrous step, its tail lurched to one side, and then the other. Link tried his best to grab onto a spike, but was promptly thrown off each time. After several attempts, he finally managed to get a sturdy hold, wrapping both of his arms around a spike and holding on for several steps. Keeping one arm tightly wrapped around the spike, Link drove the blade of the Goddess Sword into the monster's tail. Though it barely penetrated the beast's flesh, it was enough to get its attention. The beast turned, its evil, fiery eyes fixing on the green-clad parasite on its tail.
Link's breath burned and his heart sank to his stomach as the beast's gaze landed squarely on him. It planted its legs and swung its tail upward. The air in Link's lungs was forced out as the upward swing caused its tail to barrel into his chest and abdomen. It swung its tail this way and that. Link fought through dizziness and disorientation as best as he could as he held onto its tail spike for dear life. Then, suddenly, it ceased to swing its tail. By the movement of its body, Link could see that the Imprisoned was preparing to thrash its tail against the ground. Link knew he needed to move, and he needed to move quickly to avoid being slammed down with it. Before the monster could hurl its tail downward, Link swung himself forward, landing harshly on the creature's hard, scaled back. As its tail collided with the ground, chunks of rock and earth were sent flying into the air, and a large indent was left in its wake. Link covered his head as the debris rained down around him.
Link took hold of one of its scales, and the creature began to move again. He felt an unpleasant queasiness in his stomach with each jarring step the Imprisoned took, and he struggled to stay upright on its back. Link, unsure of what else to do, attempted to plunge the sword into its back, yet barely broke the surface of one of its thick, black scales. Steadying himself, he raised the sword to the sky and charged a skyward strike. He was still too far away to hit the pillar, so he opted to try once more to stab its back. With the added power from the skyward strike, this assault proved far more effective, as he was able to drive the blade past the scales and into its muscular frame. This time, the Imprisoned howled and turned its head once more to take on its assailant.
It tried to reach Link with its forelimb, yet was unable due to its thick frame and poor range of motion, though one of its claws came alarmingly close. Then, in a fit of rage, it threw its body into the dirt wall beside them. Link was tussled around the creature's back and showered once more in dirt and rocks, yet managed to stay atop by frantically grasping any scale or spike that he could. He felt the Imprisoned shifting its weight again as it prepared to try to dislodge the hero a second time. Link jumped forward at just the right moment and grabbed onto the next tier of spiraling path, curling his legs upward to avoid being crushed by the Imprisoned as it slammed its body into the wall. He strained to pull himself up, but finally managed. He pushed a few locks of sweat-soaked hair out of his face and took a moment to catch his breath.
It had been difficult to perceive how much space had been traveled from atop the Imprisoned. For its size and girth, it moved with alarming speed up the spiraled path. There were now only two tiers of the Sealed Grounds separating the Imprisoned from the temple, much to Link's surprise. He saw Groose and the old woman looking on in horror near the entrance to the temple.
"Get inside!" he screamed, his voice hoarse and breathless.
It was no use. They could not hear him over the sound of the monstrous steps and loud, growling breaths of the Imprisoned.
"Master, I estimate it will take the Imprisoned two minutes and fifty-two seconds to reach the Sealed Temple if he is not stopped."
The task seemed impossible, but Link refused to give up. With a swift breath of his own, he began running at full speed further up the path, adjacent to the beast. If he could keep up with or even outrun it, he could possibly gain the upper hand. Fi, reading Link's thoughts and intentions, spoke to him from the sword.
"Master, from where you are currently in relation to the Imprisoned, there is a thirty percent chance of you successfully making your intended jump."
Fi was correct. Link's plan was to jump onto the creature's head if he managed to gain enough ground on it. Fueled by passion and trepidation, he ran even harder.
"Your odds have increased to forty percent from your current position."
Link dashed as fast as he could until his legs, chest, and arms all burned terribly. He felt his muscles melting with exhaustion. His stamina was waning fast, but he knew he had to keep going.
"Fifty percent. My projections indicate that this is the highest probability you will achieve in these circumstances. It is now or never, Master."
Hearing this, Link ran off the edge of the path. Time seemed to slow down as he flew through the air, trying to steer himself toward the pillar. His knees buckled and his legs were swept out from beneath him as he connected with the beast. He crashed down hard before careening back a considerable distance. He managed to grab onto one of spikes protruding from the base of its head. Though his body was screaming in pain, he steadied himself and rose to his feet. His legs trembled terribly, threatening to give out under his own weight.
He raised the sword to the sky, though it felt ten times heavier now. His arm buzzed as the surge of energy filled the sword. With an impassioned shout, he flung the sword and cast the light towards the pillar ahead of him. The Imprisoned unleashed a loud, pained roar as the pillar was illuminated in brilliant blue light. It had been a direct hit, though not enough to seal the beast. Instead, it became enraged. With a mighty roar, it thrashed its head forward and sent Link flying helplessly through the air. He hit the ground with a spine-crunching hit. The air in his lungs burst forth in a loud, helpless yelp. His body flopped back into the air before finally skidding to a stop in a cloud of dirt and dust. Groose and the old woman looked on in anticipation as Link laid motionless on the ground.
"Link, get up!" Groose shouted. "Get up!"
His head throbbed audibly and terribly. He was overwhelmed by the sound of his own pulse raging in his ears. Though muffled, Link slowly began to hear Groose's commands as he regained his orientation. Through the cloud of dust kicked up by his own body, he saw the Imprisoned staring him down, snarling angrily. With a grunt and a strain, Link tried slowly to rise to his feet. A knee collapsed in, and he found himself anchoring himself with his hands for a moment. With heaving breaths, he tried once more and was finally able to stand, albeit, unsteadily.
The Imprisoned stood only a few yards away. It scowled with a look of pure hatred, its eyes fiery and its breath fuming. Meanwhile, Groose and the old woman stood holding their own breath, waiting to see what would come of the impending showdown between Link and the dark beast. Link panted heavily and delivered his own look of fierce anger and determination. The tension in the air could be felt by all. It was the moment that would decide the fate of the Imprisoned and Link. The boy charged up another skyward strike, which deeply angered the Imprisoned. It stamped its massive feet into the earth and snarled. It drew in a mighty breath and unleashed a loud, chaotic roar, its breath whipping through Link's sweaty hair. Link stayed perfectly still, not taking his fierce gaze from the beast.
"Let's finish this," he uttered under his breath, flourishing the Goddess Sword.
With another roar, the Imprisoned lurched forward and began running toward Link, who in kind, ran to meet him head-on, feeling energized by the power of the blade surging through his body. It took every ounce of courage Groose had to keep from looking away as Link, the boy he once perceived as weak and spineless, dared to confront perhaps the evilest being to ever exist. The Imprisoned stuck its neck out, opening its mouth wide to try to snatch up the hero in its teeth. Whether by luck or skill, Link managed to pivot out of the way at just the right moment. He leapt forward and took hold of the pillar on the beast's head, then used what momentum he had left to swing his body up onto it. The Imprisoned responded by thrashing its body around in a rampage, swinging its head back and forth, even throwing itself into the dirt wall once more. Anything it could to shake off the hero and his sacred blade.
Yet its efforts were for naught.
With a primal scream of his own, Link drove the illuminated sword into the pillar, which then beamed with a blinding, blue light. The Imprisoned yelped and immediately stopped its thrashing. Lifting its head to the sky, it let out one final roar as the ground below them opened up, ready to reclaim the dark beast once more. Its claws scraped against the surface of the earth as an otherworldly pull of air sucked the demonic being back into its prison.
The malice which had been spewed into the air was taken with it. The current of wind was so strong that Groose had to take hold of the old woman and shield her with his body to keep her upright. All they could see was the dark malice, the blinding light being emitted from the pillar, and the Imprisoned as it was pulled back into its otherworldly holding cell. After a grueling period of chaos, at long last, the hole in the earth closed in around the shining pillar, and with one more burst of light, the Sealed Grounds was restored to its normal, peaceful state. The only evidence that the savage battle had taken place was the dust kicked up from the settling earth. The sudden return to peace and quiet was almost as shocking as the battle itself had been. Groose sighed and rubbed the back of his head.
"Glad that's over," he said, trying his best not to sound nervous.
"For now," she replied quietly, "but where is the hero?"
"Hm?"
Groose looked out over the Sealed Grounds and saw no sign Link. He called for the boy, only to be met by his own echo.
