Caterpillar
Ela was about 6 when she first looked out at the river and new what she would do for the rest of her life. It was the first time her parents had taken her on a trip away from their home. The small girl had been so excited she had babbled all the way to the ferry, and a good deal on the ferry as well. But when the first glitter of sunlight had caught her eye as it reflected on the Morning Fog River she had fell silent. It is hard to describe what the river awoke in her but it was like someone had turned down all the colours around her and only that river mattered anymore.
The light seemed to lazily shift from one shred of mist to the next in an effort equal to carrying the whole world on it's shoulders. And in her innocence she believed that something larger than life was behind the place, ever keeping an eye out for the creatures that lived there.
Her parents had smiled at the sudden quietness of their daughter and had let her take one of the caterpillars home to take care of. The little animal, blazing red with black wings was so unlike Ela's usual choice of colours her mother had been surprised. There had been plenty rainbow-coloured ones around, but her little girl only had eyes for that single one.

Pop
Ela grew up over the years and proved herself to be a good caretaker. But in spite all her good efforts it would take her small caterpillar, which was known then by the name of Scarlet, 4 full years to gather enough strength to cocoon itself. 
One morning, as Ela awoke to caress her small caterpillar she could not find it. An emergency search through her room finally turned up a small scarlet red bundle perched on her window. Somewhere in the night Scarlet had flown there and cocooned herself.
Ela, delighted by Scarlets change (at last), waited patiently for the pop to hatch. At times she feared that maybe she was no good caretaker, that she had killed Scarlet by neglecting her, or more of those depressive thoughts. But the pop was undeniably alive. It quivered and squirmed inside, changing and growing.
Ela still carried the pop around with her wherever she went. To school, to family, to playdates. And after a while Ela just grew accustomed to the idea of having a pop in stead of a Star Dancer. She could still tell Scarlet anything she needed to get out of her system and she always felt better afterwards, knowing that she had been heard.

Adult
Five years passed and Ela went through high school and puberty still not letting Scarlet out of her sight for even one minute. Her first boyfriends passed and dreams of jobs that were not really what she wanted. 
On one of these daydreams about where her life might guide her, Fate kicked in. An old faded picture of that first trip fell out. The river, imperfectly caught on two dimensions only barely resembled her memories of the place. Ela thought about Scarlet, the  companion she had had for almost 10 years that still hadn't hatched.
In about 5 minutes her mind was made up. All her childhood dreams of the river returning. Ela knew she would have to go back and see for herself if she could work there. Having a pop that hadn't hatched yet might hold her back, but she needed to give it a try.
And so, 10 years after her first trip there Ela was again standing on the ferry, holding her breath for the magnificent sight that she was yearning to see again. As she approached the estuary a strange feeling came over her and she started to laugh. Not knowing why she was so happy, but enjoying the moment in the sun she felt as if she was coming home.
Ela grabbed in her pocket to take out Scarlet so she could see her home too. But the pop wasn't there anymore. Instead a small black-red butterfly perched on her hand. Ela recognised the categories it belonged to. The head of the dancer was animal, it's wings were butterfly and it's colours were night.
"I am Starlight Red Sorceress." the creature told her privately in her head, "I want to thank you for how you cared for me all those years."
"But I was your friend... What else could I have done?" Ela asked.
"We shall like it here then," Sorceress said, "as we should because we'll be here long." The deep yellow-gold eyes of the Star dancer looked into her own deep browns and conveyed some kind of magic secret, a glimpse of the future...