Otter Creek the good, the bad, and the dirty

The creek had been as far as he could make it today. He felt only fractionally better but had refused to lie around again, instead pushing himself to patrol one of the lake's adjacent territories. Getting here had been more difficult than anticipated, though, and he had been so winded that he needed to rest, episodes of coughing and hacking making catching his breath even harder. But he finally did and then raised up to sit on his haunches and look around. He wasn't sure what to do now that patrolling was out of the question for a while. He wished Eleni would show up to keep him company like she had in the meadow, and when a familiar form came bursting in, dropping something near the creek, a trickle of hope made his heart race. But it wasn't Eleni. Had he been able to smell, he might have been distracted by the meal, but instead his gaze was drawn to the panting Nirali. He got to his feet and headed over, coughing some as he moved. He stopped in front of her, looking between the meat and his companion. Nice, he said, obviously unaware of how she obtained this food. At least one of us is able to hunt. He hated that he couldn't even do that simple task. Oh he had tried, but running led to coughing fits, which sufficiently scared away any prey before he could even manage to pick up speed.