farawayeyes4

Hey,

Well, I finally got another chapter finished for Journey, eh? I can't believe it's been over a month since the last one! I will have to admit that I've been rather busy in April, so it's one reason for the delay. I hope you'll like this chapter, considering it's staring our favorite toad, Jaken. And I promise, this time he'll do more than mope around the Vale.

With this new chapter, we have surpassed 900 pages. We're at 901 to be exact. Amazing, isn't it? Who knows how many more pages we can go with it, but who knows! We'll have to find out, now won't we? We've come too far to stop now, I'd say.

I do have the next chapter started, at least a rough couple paragraphs to work with. I'm not entirely sure how long it'll take me to get it finished, or if I'll get distracted by another “side-project” while working on it. We shall see. There are always drabbles or one of

forthrightly's various challenges to be done, too! I will say that I do have a rough outline going for this chapter, so I have a general idea of what I need to cover, and what needs to happen in it. I'm not sure how long it'll take me to transition into the new POV, but that's always a struggle.

The past month has been productive in the awards front. The Feudal Association had their voting last month, and I am happy to announce that Journey took first place for Best Characterization: Inuyasha, and third for Best Inu/Kag Romance. The Inuyasha Fanguild is about to start voting (May 12^th), so if you are a member, do go and survey the stories. You can see what I have on the ballot by checking this post here. I wish everyone luck! Alongside the two award groups, I have been fortunate to win a few drabble competitions. You can check my awards gallery for more information on that!

Well, it's that time! Time for review responses:

AFF:

chanda: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! It was a fun one to write. I agree with you, it was fun to see Miroku do an impression of Sesshomaru. I wonder if Sesshomaru would have been amused, though?

Shaid: Thanks. I am so glad you enjoyed the chapter. Thank-you for the compliment on the characterization. I always try to keep as true as I can to the various characters I work with, and I find Sango difficult to write. I'm glad that you feel that I've kept her in character. It means a lot to me to hear that. I hope you'll continue to enjoy the story!

Adeaneri: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! I hope you'll keep reading!

Kalila: Yes, the Belgaraid gang in one story with Inuyasha. What can I say? The idea kept teasing me and I just had to write it. I hope you'll enjoy it as we go along!

SoulNchantress: How about I update now? I know, it took a while, but to keep the quality, sometimes it has to take awhile. I hope you'll continue enjoying the story, and I'm glad you enjoy the crossover elements. And we still have quite a while to go before we reach the end, trust me.

Kate: Wow, two nights, huh? I hope you'll like the new chapter just as much as the rest!

MediaMiner:

Jester08: Glad you liked the chapter! I hope you'll keep reading.

Fluffy802005: I'm glad to see someone who is a Sango/Miroku fan. I find their budding romance to be quite intriguing myself. They certainly do surprise me from time to time. I do like both pairings I work with, though. Both are fun to write. I hope you'll keep reading!

HMPrune: I'm glad you find the crossover working so well. I must admit it's a challenge, and when I started I wasn't entirely certain what I wanted to do in it, but it seems to be working out the way I wanted it to! And yes, Miroku and Silk are very much alike in character. I would have to say that Silk would be quite hurt about the comparison, though! He probably wants to be thought of as attractive, but oh well, he should know by now everyone thinks of him as a “weasel face” or “rat face.” I hope you'll find the rest of the chapters working as well as the first ones you read!

Doggieearloverr: Yes, Sango is finally maturing enough to realize what Miroku's really trying to do now. I can't really blame her for not trusting his intentions right away, considering their past history. The man hasn't always made it easy to trust him or his true motives clear. I do think she really needed that time to think to figure out what it was Miroku was trying to do there, and that he hadn't done any of these things for anyone else. I think it's one of the biggest reasons she's been a bit more willing to let him get close. She can finally see that she's the only special girl to him, and that he's trying very hard. I wouldn't say that Miroku's intentions in bringing breakfast are entirely innocent, but I would have to say that if he was going to get any moves put on her, he would only proceed if Sango felt comfortable, which helped him get what he wanted! She didn't feel pressured, so she could enjoy it and learn that she really DOES love being kissed by our monk---enough to turn the tables on him. I don't think Miroku minded being dominated, either. I think he would get off on that, actually, only because it's her strength that he really admires. And yes, Miroku playing the Grolim Priest is a dangerous venture, but one they'll have to do. In the original Eddings series, Feldegast makes the trek to Mal Yaska alone, and in a matter of a couple hours. I decided to take a couple Inu characters to that city so it could be seen in the story. I had so many ideas pop into my head when I toyed with the idea that I just had to do it. Mal Yaska, in a long of ways, will be my invention. We never actually SEE inside the city in the Malloreon, and we only get scant ideas of what it might look like throughout the entire series. Rak Cthol, its sister city, is actually visited and described in vivid detail, so it'll be the one I'll work from to build Mal Yaska. I don't think they'll make Miroku perform any sacrifices, as he's there to do Church Business with Urvon and they'll have priests already in charge of it, but who knows, that dreaded question might come up! Yes, Inuyasha and Kagome are a lot more comfortable with one another. I would have to say that the next time they see Koga, Inuyasha will be torn between trying to kick his ass again or thanking him. On one hand, Koga did try to move in on Kagome and DID kill Rin at one point, on the other, without getting in their faces, he and Kagome might not have gotten as comfortable and close as they are! Yes, I do think Inuyasha will kill them if they don't come back alright. He doesn't like the idea at all, but he can't stop them no matter how much he wants to! We'll see how that turns out, though. I don't think Sango will really want Miroku to imitate Sesshomaru very often, either. It's one thing for him to act that way, cause that's how Sesshomaru is, but for laid-back Miroku, not as easy to take. Yes, we'll get to see what's going on with Inuyasha and Kagome down the road, along with Sess and Rin. I'd have to say they'll have a lesson pretty soon. We'll see!

NewFan: I'm glad you're still reading! I hope you'll continue to enjoy the story!

SlightlyMadHatter: I'm glad you're finding the mixture of the series enjoyable. The idea just wouldn't leave me alone, and it's brought me this far. We've still got quite a while to go, actually, so no, this story is not yet completed. I hope you'll continue reading along as we go!

I am Foxglove: Yes, I figured that if anyone could act in the Inuyasha crew, it'd have to be Miroku. I figured he'd be the best one for this job because of that quality, and I'm sure Sesshomaru would be flattered on some level by the impersonation. At least a little. I also like switching POVs, too. It keeps the story fresh in some ways, and yes, we do get to take a deeper look into each character's personal story. If I had taken it from one character's POV straigh through, I think I might have been very limited in what I could do, and if I tried to do a story with everyone's thoughts on the page all at once it'd get to be messy. I do think that Sango and Miroku still have a ways to go in their relationship, but their small steps are making it an interesting one. Inuyasha and Kagome probably wouldn't be together at this point in the story if Inuyasha's instincts hadn't gone haywire and kept telling him that Sesshomaru was a rival male. Without that, they'd probably still blushing and looking away from one another. I think Sango and Miroku are going slowly for a couple reasons. Sango is a damaged character as you said, and probably wouldn't handle being courted so aggressively. They would still be at the Miroku gropes/Sango slaps phase. And second, I just don't think Miroku knows as much about courting a woman as he lets on. I think he's entering territory he's not really been in before. Sure, he's asked that question and all that, but to seriously court a woman with the intentions of staying faithful to that one woman? No. I don't think he'd be ready to go any faster than they are, either.

Ranuel: I'm glad you enjoyed the kisses. They were fun to write indeed. Technically, the non-Inuyasha characters are in their home world. I though it'd make for a more interesting story to take the Inu gang to this world rather than the other way around. If I had taken the Eddings cast to our world, the story would have ended rather quickly, or ended up in a dead end. I do hope you'll keep reading!

Fryloche: I'm glad you're enjoying the crossover! I am glad you think that my characteriations of the Eddings characters are really on. I really work hard to do that, even though most of the audience hasn't read the other series. As for the flaw, technically, the way I have it set up, the Belgaraid series is the jumping platform for my story. I kinda cherry picked from the Malloreon what I thought would work or would be a good addition. The rest? I cut. Essentially, Eriond has not become a God, Polgara hasn't had her twins, and the “division” of the Universe has not been repaired. I'd say anywhere from 90-95% of the Malloreon NEVER happened. I played with some things, like having Silk and Velvet being married already because I like them as a couple, Zakath single, and in my mind, he is an ally here because Garion is, well, rather charming. And let's face it, Seers set my teeth on edge. I'm quite a bit like Beldin that way. The riddles irritate me. I also wasn't entirely certain if I wanted to trek the Inuyasha gang to Kell, considering what it does to Grolims. A handful of demons might suffer more problems, although if I REALLY wanted to get around that, the Seers would have forseen it and let them pass without any consequence. Who knows, maybe a sequel will come about where a trek to the Dal holy city will take place. One never knows! I hope that clarifies where we're at in this story in retrospect to the Eddings canon. Trust me, I know where I fuzzed the canon timeline and where I simply did away with it.

AnimeSpiral:

InunKags: I'm glad you liked the chapter, even though you had to wait!

Malitiadixie: Well, you'll have to wait a bit on the Rin/Sess situation, but I hope it'll be worth the wait! I hope you'll continue enjoying the story!

Well, that's it. Until next time!

Far Away Eyes

Links: AFF MM.org AnimeSpiral Eternal Destiny