Friends.

Dear Kiya,

I am extremely enraged by the fact that you got stabbed while helping out these "friends" of yours. Are they really your friends? They betrayed you and left you for dead! If I ever see this Mercer Frey, I will bash him senseless with my shield, stab his throat, and take his head off! You have already dispatched him before I did though, and I consider him lucky. The people of Riften apparently did not know anything about the guy. I rushed there when I read your letter to see if you were still there--somewhere. I was not at all familiar with Riften's streets, and so I gave up my search for you and asked around on a man named Mercer. Nobody could tell me who or what he was, except that he was very rich. That was the end of it, I guess.

It took me a few days to head back to Whiterun, where I thought you might be resting your wounds. I knocked on Breezehome's door a few times, and Lucia opened it. She invited me inside, and told me that you weren't there, and that you haven't visited there in quite a long while. Probably as long as you've had that stab wound. I thanked her, and just as I was about to go to the door and leave, I noticed something--sinister--near one of the shelves. I took a closer look:

Weapons of mass confusion (for me at least).

I have no idea what they were doing in your home. That symbol... I think I've seen it before, and I've taken an illumination of it near Riften. Is there something you're not telling me? Have you been in this place before and somehow found these weapons?

If a hideout's somewhere near that stone, it's not a hideout.

Pardon my intrusion inside your house, my beloved, but I could not contain my curiosity. I looked around, knowing that you were not there and Lucia does not know what any of these things mean. I saw this journal of some sort with the same weird symbol I've been seeing around your house.

That is one journal you won't miss reading...

 I opened it and found... almost nothing. The first pages I saw did not resemble any kind of writing I understand (and I know I can speak the tongues of Dragons) and did not tell me anything.

...Until you start reading it, of course.

Unfortunately, all of the pages inside the journal were written like that. I put it down, and noticed the book underneath. It spoke of Nightingales, a fabrication of reality that had been used to scare children and such. The book mentions that a Nightingale was actually found a long time ago. And it does describe the symbol of the Nightingales as the symbol on the weapons, on the journal, and on the stone. What does this have to do with you? Did you find any of them? They do not seem like a trustworthy lot, being associated with the Thieves' Guild and all.

Holy Sect?

I had to walk outside to gather my thoughts. I knew you were still hiding from you enemies, and there is no chance you'd be somewhere inside a city where eyes can easily spy on you. This Mercer Frey might have had friends, if he did not betray them before he died, and would be looking to kill you. I thought you'd just turn up when everything has been taken care of. I stopped thinking and walking. I looked up and saw a great hall just a staircase away.

This is the start of my life as a Companion. I have not made any other friends apart from you and your child, and I thought that this might be as good a time as any. As I opened the door, a fight had already started. Two women of the Companions were at each other's throats, drunk as the gods permit, with all of the others cheering them on. It was a warm, cozy place. 

I'll wager 100 gold on the one with the helmet!

As soon as the fight subsided, I started talking to some of the Companions on their lifestyle. They told me if I was good enough I'll be making a lot of money to spend on mead. I am not a drinker, as you may well know, but I am looking for work. They pointed me to Kodlak Whitemane if I wanted to join, and I wasted no time tracking him in their basement talking to one of their more formidable members, Vilkas.

I am neither.

Kodlak had suggested Vilkas and I sparred with each other so he can gauge my strength in battle. I did not think it was a good idea, as I know my strengths and weaknesses as sure as there are Dragons in Skyrim. Vilkas will be in bad health if we indeed push through with this. Kodlak wanted it, so I decided to take it easy on him. I beat him easily, most unfortunate for his pride. We went back, and I met all of the members of the Companions once Kodlak had approved of me.

So I pray to the gods that these people will trust me and keep me close. I have found new friends, and this is only the second time I've ever felt so warm in a place in Skyrim. 

I hope that wherever you are right now, please come back. Let me take care of you.

Love, 

Kousei.

P.S. Yes, I do have that weird silver mold you're talking about. Once we see each other again, I'll show it to you.

Come and get it!