The Sunspire like the stars miss the sun.

The Ostrega shut his eyes tight as Ame responded to his apology exactly the way he expected her to. He knew his words were ridiculous, and though his packmate's response had been nothing less than kind, he still felt the hot sting of embarrassment at his folly. He felt like his chest was on fire as he laid there--a heated mix of nerves, stress and self-consciousness swimming like a maelstrom around his heart.

Somehow, he heard the female's words. They were so caring and so sympathetic, and she had no idea who he was or what it was that plagued him. Instantly, guilt joined the mix and took over. It was guilt that destroyed him most of all. Guilt at how he felt when he had no reason to feel it, guilt at how it affected the others around him, guilt at how helpless and uncomfortable and sorry it made them feel.

"I'm..." he started without even realizing it had begun. Summer's breaths began to come faster and faster, deeper, shorter, and more painful. The panic attack took him full force, with tears stinging his eyes and his chest heaving from painful gasps. He rolled swiftly onto his belly and dug his claws desperately into the earth, as though holding onto the ground would help him to hold onto the bits of his regular self that were trying desperately to break through the iron wall that his anxiety had constructed around him.

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