First off - I'm shaking my fist at you for your title putting the Power Rangers theme song into my head! 😉
Secondly - The addition of your sketch is a bonus to your postings on two levels. For this way we get to see another part of your creative side, a peek beneath the cap as well as a piece that ties in to illustrate what is in your mind for the story.
Your story started off light, the exhausted Vartan transforming in the dream to have wings and a joyful flight to an island. Then came the dark figure, dripping pieces of itself all over the place to pin the poor little bat down. Thankfully, the blue kestrel (instead of wearing a suit) came to the rescue. Attempting to behead the vile figure and save Vartan so the two could escape. (Your ending words have me wondering if Vartan's lungs begging for a break were not just from the frantic flying but in reality from crying, shouting or both.) The appearance of It, the giving of the black shard and it renewing Vartan's strength - I'll admit I'm a bit unclear as to why the withering reversed. But from your writing of what was in your mind and events that led to this story, I took it as It giving a piece of itself to Vartan, strengthening him and leaving, wanting not gratitude but to know that he'll carry on.
And to your personal story regarding your friend, I can say that while sometimes a person may feel as though they've not done enough to help a friend, to them, the fact that you were there at all, that you stayed, and that you truly cared, that makes a completely messed up situation bearable.
--Bris
UwU ~ Thanks for reading and thanks for the compliments! I was trying to first and foremost trying to get yah to think about "Go BANANAS, GO GO BANANAS!" But "POWER-POWER RANGERS!" will work to I guess. Funny I played a SNES game of them as a kid and never saw anything of them ever since.
Love doing these sketches, as always. Now if I was only an artist, I would be able to draw things way more chaotically but a semblance of orderliness will pervade around each drawing. In one word: details. So, if I continue to sketch, I'll be able to draw what I perceive from my membrane alright!
Anyways, good eyes on all that - and I'll purposefully leave you in the dark and let you psychoanalyze that detail of his lungs burning/collapsing. Anyways, I too shall leave the connection between It and the black shard's power to reverse withering in the dark as well (I have a reference to this in Cap'n Wither as well and a future post on that thread when I'll get to it). And to remark on the personal story / end blurb as I had with this entire response as I did with @f3nix, they are connected but to what degree I haven't a clue. But we always do reflect what we see all throughout the World no matter what we do. I at least thank you for at least directly acknowledging the end blurb.