Disclaimer: I do not own Power rangers and would never be able to dream of owning the rights to this show.
Authors note: Aslynn is the name of a character in another fic that I am in the process of writing. If and when that story is published it is important that Aslynn here and Aslynn in that story are almost completely unrelated. The character in my other story did inspire this character and by the time I had realized that this Aslynn was forming herself into her own story the name was too wormed in my mind and I was unable to rename her.
In the both stories Aslynn is blinded at a young age by a virus and is extremely bright with music.
The Before
"Dad, let me do this! I know I can get through with this message."
"No Cory! Corinth city is too far away. We need to just wait for our turn to be evacuated." A man pushed his chair out from a table.
"Dad we won't make it till they get to us with the evacuations. Someone needs to be told that the virus has spread faster then they thought it would." Cory stood up and paced the small kitchen
"Cory please sit down. Your Father is right, the evacuations will get to us soon enough. We have survived this long we can wait another week or two for the transports to come and get us." A woman said coming in the door with a pail of water to boil.
"Mom, we may be able to survive but Aslynn what about her? You always say her needs come first, the Venjix virus has cut our electricity. We may be able to walk and get around but you know she won't be able to or at least not that fast." Cory said going to the stairs "I am going to get her for breakfast. Sometimes I think I take care of her better then you are."
"Cory, we need to stop babying her, she can fend for herself."
"Dad, she is scared! Why can't you see this? Sometimes I think you are blinder then she is." Cory completed his ascent up the stairs.
As he got to the top he saw Aslynn's door open and she was sitting on her bed with a pair of headphones on staring blankly at the wall. He fingers looked busy and he knew she was counting out in her head the movements she would need to play the song she was listening to. While she was unsure of moving around in places she was unfamiliar with she was never a stranger with music, specifically piano music. What was funny was she couldn't hum the tunes but she could play the tunes better then anyone her Piano teacher had ever seen.
He stepped into her room causing her to jump. Evidently the song had hit a low note and she had heard him. "You can't scare me you know? The upside to my blindness is that my hearing is far better then yours."
"I wasn't trying to scare you. I was coming to get you for Breakfast." Cory grinned
Aslynn smiled and stood however she hit a sunbeam and winced. "Cory where are my sunglasses?" she asked as she felt for her table.
"Are your eyes bothering you?" Cory grabbed her glasses and laid them in her hands.
"When do they not? I hate having to wear these cursed things in the house." Aslynn put the glasses over her eyes and took her brothers arm.
"This is why I wish I could get you to Corinth today. We could have an apartment with electricity so the curtains can be drawn. You could have your brail computer and voice reader."
"I could charge my iPod, it is nearly dead. I do not enjoy the thought of having to go back to practicing my music with my brail music book. You try reading brail and timing out movements at the same time." Aslynn complained as she walked down the stairs next to Cory.
"After breakfast would you like to go for a walk with me?" Cory whispered in her ear.
"Where would we go?"
"To the park, we could talk there alone. I have something I need to tell you without others hearing. He whispered as he waited for her to get her balance on the last step."
Aslynn walked over to the table with her hands out and sat at her seat at the table. And organized her plate and silverware in front of her so that she knew where everything was.
"Aslynn, I hate to say this but with times getting tough you are going to have to not rely on your brother around the house anymore. Your mother and I feel this is the best way. We know you can be independent and we just want you to help us out till we can be evacuated to Corinth."
"Fine just don't rearrange the furniture because you know I won't use my cane in the house. I don't even like using it outside the house." Aslynn protested.
"Protesting using the cane is not going to get you a seeing eye dog any faster. You were on the list but who knows when they will be able to complete that request." Her Father responded
"Fine, just as long as you promise to try to get me on the first evacuation trip to Corinth." She crossed her arms and pouted.
"Aslynn they will take people as they get to the loading docks. There is no preference order, even if you have a disability. If they gave in to everyone with a handicap they would only get those people to Corinth. We promise we will help you get on that bus as soon as we can."
"That is your problem Dad. You wish I never contracted that virus when I was a baby. You prefer people who are able bodied to people like me who have disadvantages. I am surprised you haven't thrown me into an institution by now. heck I am even surprised you allow anyone to help me around the house." Aslynn bit back as she pushed her plate away and paced her way to the door where she grabbed her cane and coat.
Cory glared at his Father before going to the door and helped his sister out the door. When they got to the park Cory led his sister to their secret spot.
As she sat on the ground she felt the tree behind her, "We are by Gramp's tree" she said as she felt the tree bark remembering sitting against it while their Gramp would tell them stories on the hot summer days when he had still been alive. "Cory do you still have his watch?"
"Yes I have it, I brought it with me today actually. Do you want to wear it?" Cory held the watch out to her.
"No, just let me see the key." She took one of the two necklaces from his hand. "do I have the second key or the first one?" she fingered the key a little bit.
"You have the second key, the one that doesn't move the watch without its twin." Cory said letting her feel the other key.
"I have always been amazed at this watch, to think Gramp made this watch with his own hands when Dad was little." Aslynn smiled, "Remember how he would let us wear it as he told us his stories?"
"Yes I remember and I remember how he gave it to us just a week before he died and told us it was our time to watch the clock." Cory laughed
"Which is why I gave you the watch because I can't exactly watch it because it doesn't have a voice reader to tell me the time it reads and the hands are behind glass so I can't touch them to figure out where they are facing." Aslynn smiled as she reached out to feel the engravings on the watch.
"The reason why I wanted to bring you out here was to tell you that I am going to go and take you to Corinth whether Dad likes it or not. we will leave tomorrow at first light, news is that Venjix has been stopping and destroying more and more evacuation busses. We need to get through before it is completely impossible."
"But how will we get there? you can't buy gas anymore because there is no electricity to pump it."
"My friends and I started stock piling it a few weeks ago, when it was first rumored that our area would lose power just as other towns have. Every day we went and filled gas tanks with gas. I have approximately fifty gallons in the trunk of my car. More then enough to get us to Corinth and back at least twice.
"I will put your computers in the back seat, though I know once inside Corinth they will probably have to confiscate them." Cory said as he leaned back and let the wind brush his cheeks.
"Don't bother, I was reading some of the information and it says that Corinth will provide all the items needed to their citizens with special needs. Which means they already have all the equipment I need there, I will just need to submit a request form with my citizenship registration." Aslynn smiled, "I did my homework as well and ordered all the special needs pamphlets when they became available."
"Then if that is the case why don't I go get my car after mom and dad leave for the day. We could leave today then." Cory said as he stood up, "If we leave by lunch time we could be in Corinth by sundown tomorrow."
"That means a hot shower and real food." Aslynn smiled, "I could go for that!"
"Then it is settled, why don't we go back to the house and we can pack quickly." Cory said taking her hand as Aslynn rose to her feet and unfolded her cane.
"Cory what does the sky look like? Someone said that it was turning an icky color because Venjix is trying to pollute the air and kill us."
"It is turning a yellowish color. A pure blue sky is very rare these days, but the pollution isn't that bad here yet. Which is part of the reason I want to get you out of here. the winds are turning and the pollution could be on us by the end of the week, before our evacuation could even possibly be upon us. People say it is odorless and the only way you can tell is by how thick the color of the smog is."
When they got back to the house and made sure their parents had already left for the day Cory showed Aslynn the stockpile of food. "I have been taking some of the no heat rations from the kitchen for the last couple of days. We have more then enough rations to last us a week and I have the directions to Corinth pinned to my dash board. I even got them punched up into brail."
"Are you sure you haven't been planning this for a while?" Aslynn grinned as she reached through the front window and felt the dashboard. "These directions don't sound too hard to follow, I think I will be able to navigate."
"That is what I was hoping to hear." Cory smiled as he started back to the house, "Why don't we go get you a few outfits to take to Corinth?"
In her room she knelt by her drawers, "you know the only think the matter with mom's system is that I can't tell what is polka dots and what is plaid, someone who can see has to fold and put my clothes in the respective slots or hang them up on the proper hangers." She complained as she picked out a few outfits that would go together and look good on her at the same time. As she took them out she placed them in small bags and with her brail labeler which didn't require electricity she made out tags of what was inside each bag.
After stuffing those into her backpack along with some reading material she slipped the bag onto her back and took her brothers elbow.
After climbing into the car and getting her seatbelt on she settled the bag between her feet and reached out to get a sense on where the directions were located. After brushing her fingers over them she brushed slower reading every direction in detail. "Cory I think we are ready. Why don't we hit the road so we can be out of town before we have to stop for something to eat.
Cory drove the car through the abandoned streets of their town. No one drove their cars anymore even if they had gas. Gas was a luxury that couldn't be wasted and all cars that had some gas in them were being saved for if there was need to make a mad run out of town.
"Cory do you think Mom and Dad will really make it to Corinth city? they seem to be procrastinating, people have already left our town because the evacuation busses came to a town nearby. What if they don't actually come to our town and that other town last week was our last chance." Aslynn mumbled as she leaned her head back waiting for Cory to ask her where they needed to go next.
"I don't know but I am sure they will get there some how, I mean they are our parents, we can only hope that they find their way to Corinth." Cory said as he turned onto the interstate, "What exit do we need?"
"Exit thirty-four" Aslynn read to her brother. "Can we turn on the radio and see if there might be some music?"
"I don't think there would be but I have a few CD's on my visor, I can put one of those in?" Cory asked
"I think I will pass You don't exactly listen to classical." Aslynn sighed as she looked out the window feeling some rays of sunlight on her face made up for the lack of classical music. If she had thought of it she would have put a CD in her bag except she didn't have any CD's she was entirely digital in her music collection. Cory had an old car so he had made some CD's to listen to.
Cory frowned and remembered the watch around his neck as he drove he turned his key inside the watch and made it play one of the songs. The only song that Aslynn could actually whistle to.