I'm playing Hyrule Warriors and I REALLY want to unlock Ghirahim in adventure mode. Unfortunately, on one square, I have to defeat the Imprisoned as Fi and I keep dying. I have to level her up some more, or so I heard (and create the two slots on the badge for two potions, which I've already done)... Grrr!

...Or at least, that's what I THOUGHT, but after I went through the Ocarina of Time, timeline in legends mode, the square after that one opened up , allowing me to pass without going through the Imprisoned scenario... I am really confused. Was it because of story mode or did I wish REALLY hard?

Ok, I'll be quick: the square after the Imprisoned (still don't know what happened there) I used Sheik during the 700 kill in 10 minutes square for her long range attacks, etc. and didn't focus too much on the bosses. I moved around on the map while avoiding the manhandla monsters. Next, I used Link on the long awaited square, after using the candle in that area. I made sure to thin out a few numbers, beat Ghirahim, thinned out some more, then focused on the rogue base.

Any way, I FINALLY unlocked Ghirahim as of this post! And he is WORTH all the crap I endured! I'll explain more later...

You all knew this chapter was coming... lets see what happens THIS time when it's Zelda who gets the drop from you-know-who.

chapter 5: beasts both imprisoned and appalling

As I leapt off my Loftwing and fell through the sky, my mind was filled with the words of that strange woman. I had no clue what the old woman at the temple could do to help me, but what little she had to offer had been a lot to me, so far.

I was so focused, I didn't suspect anything would go amiss, until I suddenly felt something telling me to look up.

And falling towards me, yelling his head off, was Groose.

I responding back with my own confused, but equally horrified yelling.

The second he reached me, he grabbed my leg and dragged me the rest of the way down.

"ZELDA HELP!" Groose hollered as my arms helplessly flailed until I had the sense to take the sailcloth out and slow down our descent until we crashed outside the temple. The recovery time took awhile for the both of us.

"...Ugh... rough landing." Groose moaned as I laid face first in the dirt. "I think I might of broke something. Hey Zelda, didn't anyone ever teach you how to land without crash- WHOA!" I got up in time to see Groose scoot away from a pair of small birds. "B-birds?" He stuttered in shock. "TINY birds?! Wh-what... ARE they?!"

"And what is that thing?!" He practically shrieked as I got up. A passing glance told me that he was referring to Gorko who was only passing by and minding his own business.

Groose was still kneeling on the ground, still overwhelmed by the new world with wide eyes and an even wider gapping mouth.. "But...how...Wh-why... Wha-what... WHERE AM I?!" He hollered so loud that the woods echoed with the sound of his voice.

All of a sudden, I found Groose in front of me and shaking me by the shoulders. "What's going on here? Ever since Link vanished, you've been zipping in and out of town all in a hurry!"

... I guess I wasn't cautious enough about that.

I was internally wincing at this revelation as Groose shook me so hard that I was only making noises of protest that came out of my throat, until he finally stopped. "So I figured I'd follow you."

"But this is... so wild." He pulled away and pointed to Gorko. "Seriously, what IS that thing over there?! And what's with all these trees?" He freaked as he shoked his hands and looked up. "There are so many! What's the deal with this place?! If there's supposed to be nothin' below the clouds, what's all this?"

...One explanation from me later, Groose dazedly fell to his knees. He was unaware that birds were starting to flock to his shoulders (which, I admit, was a little cute.)

"Uhhhh... Whoa... You're ind of imploding my mind right now... But I think I get what you're saying. So...your on some kind of quest right?"

"Yup." I nodded with a smile.

"...You know Zelda." He seemed to recover as he glanced around him once more, but with more of his sanity intact. "It's sort of all right down here."

"This place needs a name. Yeah... A name fitting for this rugged, adventurous wilderness. From now on, we'll call it... Grooseland."

I flinched as I looked back to him: Seriously?! All my pity for the guy suddenly went out the window the second he returned to his conceited nature.

"So," He began as he got up, causing all the birds to fly off of him. I noticed the look on his face as he turned to me, and it was the look I knew all too well. It was the one that said he thought that we were an item or that he didn't even need a chance- he really recovered that fast. "Why don't you give yourself a break and let me take over from here?" He gave me a smug grin. "Or better yet, why don't I join you in your little adventure?"

I didn't even hide my grimace and reminded myself to try to be gentle. "I'm fine Groose. I can handle myself, but thank you very much."

Unfortunately, Groose took this as cue to stride his way towards me- as in 'big, manly stomping'- as if it would get me interested. "Now Zelda, you don't need to put yourself through such a hassle."

My hand slowly inched for my sword. "Groose, I'm warning you-

Groose quickly caught my hand and yanked it towards him and almost pulled me into his chest in the process. "Come on Zelda! What's so important about Link that makes him better than me?!"

"TAKE YOUR HAND OFF HER, YOU OVERGROWN DUNCE OF A NUISANCE BEFORE I CUT IT OFF!"

I sighed in relief as Groose looked over my head to see my companion looming over me. Not only did he let go of my hand and jumped away from me as if I were a danger, but he shrieked like a girl in the process.

"And whose THIS guy?!" He demanded as he pointed a finger. "He looks evil!"

"I'm the one that makes sure she stays safe from threats and atrocities such as yourself! I've been given special permission to beat you within an inch of your life, if you ever made any unwanted advances on my mistress!"

"MISTRESS?!" Groose gapped at me. "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!"

"She doesn't appreciate your insufferableness, and has made it clear that not only is she not even faintly interested in you, but her heart belongs to another, far more worthy young man than the likes of you, while said young man should also deserve your respect. So I'm giving you an ultimatum, boy: I beat you within an inch of your life, as promised... or I'll chop off that appalling excuse of a hairstyle on your head that is making my gorge rise!"

I don't know which sounded worse to Groose, but he took the hint. He ran towards the temple screaming and crying his head off, like the worst monster you could imagine in this world was after him.

When I turned to Ghirahim, I wasn't ashamed of the grin on my face. It was so wide that it hurt. "That... was..." I burst out laughing. "Did you see the look on his face?!"

Ghirahim merely gave me a humble smile and, with one arm at his chest and the other at his back, he bowed in front of me as if I were royalty or was about ready to dance with him. "Anything to please my Mistress."

-templetime-

When I headed back to the temple, the old woman explained a few things to me. She told me that the woman who was with Link was known as Impa and that she was a servant of Hylia. She assured me that there was one way to reach Link and Impa, and that was by playing the Ballad of the God.

When I did as instructed, a strange stone slab rose out of the ground. The woman told me that the harp had once belonged to Hylia, and that the melodies it produced could have strange, otherworldly effects.

She told me that, while the gate of time before me could lead me back to Link, it would mean that I would have to endure many hardships and put myself in great danger. However, my destiny required that I had to endure them... and the first of my hardships started with an earthquake.

-The Imprisoned-

when the old woman and I went outside, I noticed that Groose was right beside the entrance to the temple. He was shaking and terrified at the sudden change. "The whole ground is heaving! I thought it was supposed to be solid down here!" He cowered.

"Go quickly Zelda, check on the sealing spike at the center of the pit!" The woman frantically ushered me. "There's nothing natural about these tremors. That monster could free itself at any moment. Approach the pit with caution!"

I felt an unexplained wave of fear as I heeded the old woman's words. As I made my way down, I asked "Didn't you say an ancient demon was sealed here?"

"...I did." An unusually quiet voice in my head responded back.

When I reached the seal, an ominous black smoke rose out of the column and the markings on the ground glowed with a coppery shade of red. The black smoke grew in size until it expanded outward, pooling around my feet as it reached the ends of the pit.

And what rose out of that smoke, was a black and red scaled behemoth that had two feet, and, as it lowered it's head towards me, it had three sets of teeth in it's mouth.

For a brief moment, I felt myself paralyzed in fear as it stared at me, before it stretched it's neck outward.

That's when the woman yelled at me from high above: "It must not reach the temple!"

"What do I do Ghirahim?!" I yelled in panic as the beast slowly lumbered it's way up the spiral path to the temple.

"...Slash it's toes until they burst." He was still unusually quiet and withdrawn. It wasn't like him to be this way, and that seemed to be a warning sign for me. "Otherwise, use the geysers to reach the top of it's head."

What ensued was one of the most panic inducing moments of my life. I had to really push myself to get ahead of the monster when I slashed at it's toes, and ride the wind to reach it's head, in order to send the seal back into it's skull. Every time I sent the seal back in, it would recover and suddenly crawl itself at a faster pace towards the temple. It got to the point where I took Ghirahim's advice to just leap on it's head when time seemed to be running low.

Finally, the beast exploded into a white light and was sent back into the ground. I followed the old woman's instructions and drove the seal back into the ground, with the aid of a skyward strike from my sword.

By this point, I felt incredibly out of breath, my legs, were sore, my chest hurt, and my throat was on fire. I would of collapsed right then, and the old woman not approached me. She was impressed that I had been able to restore the seal on the Imprisoned, but it only resulted in giving us little time.

She didn't tell me much about what I had just faced, beyond that it was a horror of unspeakable power.

As I followed her to the temple, I saw that Groose had followed us. When he looked at me, he seemed unusually quiet and withdrawn.

Unfortunately, I still could not pass through the gate. Not until I and my sword had grown: I had to go back to the three provinces, find three hidden sacred flames, and temper the sword with them, so that it could be fully imbued with the great power I sought for. The clues I needed lay in the song of the Ballad of the God, and only one from Skyloft who was knowledgeable could help me.

I already knew who that was: my father.

I heard footsteps behind me and I turned to face Groose. His arms were crossed, and he had a thoughtful look on his face. He gave us a half hearted smirk before he dejectedly turned away. "I guess you got it all figured out Grannie." He spoke. "Me, well, there's nothin' I can do to help Zelda. I'm useless."

As he walked away, I felt somewhat bad for him. The event with the Imprisoned seemed to tell him something about himself that he had to face.

"Ah, you sell yourself short my friend." The old woman reassured him. "you'll see in time that you have your own role to play in all this." Groose seemed to ignore her as he marched the rest of the way to the doors.

-Groose is sad-

When I left, I found Groose talking to himself by the entrance to the temple. "Aw, come on! I couldn't do a thing! I'm totally useless!"

He ran off, and I found him at the side of the temple, pounding a fist against it. "I'm just deadweight. What kinda use is that to anyone..."

I didn't know what to do. Normally, I wasn't one to turn away from someone who was upset like this. It was something else to see just how much Groose suffered from the apparent lack of self worth.

As much as I wanted to reach out, I recalled how my father told me that sometimes one needed time alone, to reflect on themselves, especially those who needed their pride to be humbled.

"Humble the pride." father said. "It comes from an experience that concerned Hylia, long, long ago."

Quietly, I left Groose alone.

-sometime later that day-

Ghirahim had been unusually quiet throughout the whole trip back to Skyloft. Even after I spoke with my father about the song and gathered the clues I needed, the spirit in my sword should no enthusiasm.

I even cleaned and polished my sword a bit, when I saw how badly it needed to be cleaned, and I thought I would hear some sort of prideful flamboyancy over this from it's inhabitant, but I didn't even get so much as a chuckle.

By then, it was getting dark out, and I was really tired out: after being at Lanaryu Desert and the events at the Sealed Grounds, I felt like I could afford some time to rest- it was too early, but I didn't care.

When it was time for me to get to bed, I sat down on my bed and held the sword up. "Ghirahim?" I asked.

There was no response.

"Ghirahim, you've been quiet for quite sometime." I told it. "Ever since the Imprisoned, you haven't been you're usual self."

After a long pause, I heard a response.

"...I was just reminded of my past, that's all."

"Did the Imprisoned cause that?"

I heard a strangled gasp, which confirmed my suspicion. The spirit in the sword came out and stared at me in shock. "How-"

"You stopped being happy about traumatizing Groose, or that we found the gate, the second the Imprisoned tried to escape."

"...You're suspicion is correct, Mistress Zelda." He reluctantly admitted. "The truth is, I was reminded of..." He suddenly winced and bowed his head in agitation. He ran tensed hands over his face, and unintentionally moved his hair away from it until it was pulled upward... and that's when I noticed something I never paid attention before.

I noticed that one ear was shaped differently from the other. I didn't know why, but it made me think for a moment.

"Something bad happened to you in the past." I realized as the ear disappeared under the curtain of his hair.

"I can still feel it. Even after all these years." He panted as he kelt over. "Every part of me breaking-"

-flashback-

So much pain. Everything breaking into pieces. His sword shattered into small fragments, and his pure form, which was perfection incarnate, was being crushed from the inside as a ripple effect.

-present-

"It's ok if you don't want to think about it!" I quickly told him, not wanting the memories to cause him distress. It didn't do any good, because his panting increased, as if he was trying to hold something back.

Wordlessly I got up and carefully lead Ghirahim to my bed, where I got him to a position where he could lay on my lap (it was tricky since the bed was not built for someone of his stature.) and slowly I rubbed his back in small circles and sang a song my mother used to sing.

She told me it was an old song passed down from an ancient tribe, used to put the spirit to ease, and heal the heart. The translation was a little off, she confessed, and the song's title was roughly translated to 'the song of healing.'

I kept singing and Ghirahim slowly began to relax. As I comforted him, I only realized now that his body heat was far lower than a normal human being.

I closed my eyes and began singing another song passed down from generations, believed to have powers over the weather and create storms. Of course, it wasn't true- my younger self found this out when I wanted to stay indoors and read all day and not engage in any physical activities.

"What would you do if the flames can't temper the sword?"

I paused in confusion. "Why wouldn't they?"

"Suppose..." He quietly wandered off for a second. "Suppose the flames could burn those they deem impure or unworthy?"

I couldn't understand where he was going with this, even though I could sense something was amiss. "Are you doubting yourself? I don't think you should have anything to worry about."

He still didn't respond.

"Hey," I smiled. "You don't have to tell me, but if it doesn't work, we'll make it work somehow. I don't know what is going on, or why these things are happening, but as long as I have you with me, I know that there's nothing that will get in the way of what we need to do. You've told me that I shouldn't let my self doubt get in the way, and I don't want you to feel that way either. If anything, it seems really out of place, for someone like you. You are one of the most determined people I've ever met."

"...He was right."

"Huh?" I asked.

"Hylia said that his intended hero was one who would possess a strong heart and a kind nature." He mumbled. "Not just one who could endure the trials that must be face, but one who had a capacity to see the light of hope within darkness."

"I'm just a normal girl." I shook my head. "I'm flattered, but this feels like so much."

"Said one who took down monsters that would make grown men run in fear."

"I... guess." I trailed off.

"One day, many generations from now they will tell stories about the young woman who connected both earth and sky. They will tell of her bravery and all that she endured-

"And hopefully about her breath-taking companion." I smirked.

There wasn't anything special about me. I never had any reason to feel pride, other than being my father's daughter and a good friend, or my talent with the harp. But if you can face real life mountains, real life monsters, or forces that are hard to comprehend and then survive and learn from them... I guess that helps to make you feel something more than special. I know that my experiences helped to make me a much stronger person.

"...Do you want to help train me before the sun rises tomorrow?"

"...It would be my pleasure, Mistress."

"You don't have to call me Mistress. Just Zelda."

"Whatever you desire, Mistress Zelda."

-the next day-

An hours worth of training equaled less 'wounds' and Ghirahim's mood was reset back to his happier, eager for more slaughtering mood and this made me feel a bit happier too.

I was able to figure out that the windmills in Skyloft had something to do with the path to get to the sacred flames, but one of the propellers was missing, and fell through the sky to the surface.

Judging by the position of the windmill, I estimated it had to be somewhere in either Faron Woods or Eldin Volcano, but I hadn't seen anything like it in the woods, or at Eldin Volcano.

That's when I recalled how the key to the Earth Temple was broken into pieces and chose to 'cheat' my way into it, instead of searching... great, there was a downside to Ghirahim's teleportation after all.

There was some additional hope and I was lead to Gondo's scrap shop in the Bazaar. He had a robot identical to the ones in Lanaryu Desert that could pick up and carry objects, but the robot needed an Ancient Flower in order to be revived. Luckily, I had one of those.

-Scrapper-

The robot hovered around in the air for a bit before he descended towards me and Gondo.

"Thank you, BBZRT! I've got a full tank of energy, and I'm ready to carry anything, zzt!"

That's when he noticed me. "Huh, whose this pink and yellow creature with metal and leather parts!"

Gondo was excited, while I realized that Scrapper seemed to have a bit more of a personality than his race. "This gal gave me the materials I needed to fix you." Gondo explained to Scrapper. "On on! Say thank you!"

The robot was doubtful. "hmmm... are you sure it was her, zzzzrt? Well... I suppose I can extend my thanks to you in a gesture of obligatory gratitude, zzzrt-CHONK!"

"I just need help picking something up." I explained. "I'm not expecting much else in return, Scrapper."

"...Hmm. You may seem cute, but I'm not inclined to help. Serving children is very low in my task priority, dzzt!"

At this point, Ghirahim came out of the sword, which made all nearby observers look on in confusion. He gave Scrapper one long, hard look.

Scrapper looked on in great interest at Ghirahim "Who are you?! ZRRPT-FOOSH!"

"This is my companion Ghirahim." I introduced. "And I think you just-

"Your name is... Ghirahim? Dzzt! Should I call you Mistress Ghirahim? Are you looking for something, Mistress Fi?"

...There was an awkward, but noticeably quiet atmosphere in the small space of the otherwise noisy Bazzer, which now seemed noticeably loud and made the tension expand.

Slowly, I glanced to Ghirahim, but his height, combined with the cloak and his hair prevented me from reading his reaction.

"I... I understand, zzzrt." Scrapper suddenly spoke out, and he sounded oddly chipper. At your request, I will carry anything, regardless of weight or destination... whizzt." He then happily spun around.

Quietly, Ghirahim returned back to my sword.

-What just happened?-

"...I thought you were going to kill that robot." I confessed after... whatever just happened with Scrapper as I searched Eldin Volcano with the ability to dowse, and was called 'mistress short stuff' by said robot, for some reason. "I'm having a hard time seeing how it thought that you... uh... I mean, I guess it was hard to tell if you are a-"

"I could barely restrain myself," Ghirahim sounded tense and I could sense the anger and irritation that was threatening to boil over. "But for the sake of the mission, I let him have his fancy and projected a voice I thought he would best like in his mind, in order to get him to cooperate."

"What kind of voice."

"The voice that sounds like this." An entirely different voice came into my mind and I froze.

"...You used Fi's voice?!" I bent over laughing.

-and finally-

Well, I can't say much else happened that was noteworthy. I found a sanctuary in the storm cloud and learned a song called Farore's Courage.

Well, almost. As the words of the song were committed to memory and I strummed along to it with the harp, Ghirahim was standing by and looked really fidgety for some reason... and he was quietly humming the song too.

Afterwards, it was time to head to Faron woods.

-o-

One of the thing's I loved about Skyward Sword was choosing how to respond to people. When I first saw Groose, I kept thinking 'what's with his hair?' Imagine my humor and delight when I saw that you could comment on it.

And it led to the best brick joke, courtesy of Ghirahim in an otherwise serious moment :D Otherwise, I think the funniest scene in the game that made me laugh out was Link's reaction to Groose falling towards him.

Ghirahim's... encounter with Scrapper feels like it was worth not changing the scene too much, after all the crap I endured on Hyrule Warriors to acquire him. (I just hope this didn't create any unusual consequences in the future that haven't already existed yet.)

...However, it seems that something is off about the switch, by the way Ghirahim is reacting to the Imprisoned. We will find out soon... like maybe next chapter soon. (where I give something that you probably wanted.)