Crossed

Hunter, Cassia, Ky, Indie, and Eli start a miserable, muddy hike out of the Carving. They take shelter in a cave to wait out the rain. Cassia asks Ky why he hates the Rising so much. He says he doesn’t trust the people who left his village behind: “With the Rising, rebellion ends in death for you and the people you love. Anyone who survives is left behind to turn into someone else” (314).

Hunter redraws the blue lines on his arms and tells the story of how he almost joined the Rising (but ultimately didn’t due to his lover being the township’s leader). He finishes the blue lines, which represent a web between “anything that connects” (318). Cassia takes the opportunity to give Hunter a poem she took from the library cave: “They dropped like flakes,” featuring Sarah’s epitaph. She thinks of epitaphs as she falls asleep.

Ky hears Cassia and Eli crying as they fall asleep. He wants to comfort them, but doesn’t know how. He thinks about how affectionate his parents were, how he saw them “kissing all the time” (323). Ky reflects on the chain of trades that mark his life, from the page his father gave his uncle Patrick to the poem he gave Cassia. He takes art supplies from his pack and paints on the back wall of the cave.

Ky paints pictures of his mother, his father, Vick, the stream, the landscape, and, finally, Cassia. As he paints, he remembers something about the day his village burned. He didn’t try to move or bury his parents’ bodies. He grabbed the paintbrush, saw his parents, and ran.

The rain clears overnight, and Cassia wakes to a clear sky and sunshine. She stops in her tracks when she sees the mural Ky painted overnight. The cave wall is covered in a “rivers of stars,” a lush landscape with Ky’s parents in the middle (327). Cassia finds herself in the mural, wearing a red dress.

After several grueling days hauling the boat in rain and shine, the group reaches the river at the edge of the Carving. A light rain falls as they ready the boat. Ky imagines all of his anger, shame, and regret slipping away like the rain between his fingers. He and Cassia finally apologize to each other, and he asks her to choose who will ride with her in the boat.

Indie and Hunter tell Cassia to make her decision regarding the boat’s passengers quickly. Cassia considers everyone before settling on Eli.

Cassia chooses Indie as the second passenger, as she’s the only person with boating experience. Instead of riding the boat, Eli decides to accompany Hunter across the plains. He exchanges a short, emotional goodbye with Ky, Cassia, and Indie, then he and Hunter depart. Ky decides to follow the river on foot and meet the girls at sea. Cassia “came a long way to look” for Ky, so he will go to the Rising with her (336).

The rain turns to snow as Cassia and Ky say goodbye. Ky hesitates to hold her with his dirty, bloody hands. She reassures him that “It will all come clean” (337).

Cassia pulls out a sample tube she snuck from the Cavern—Grandfather’s last sample. Ky shows her Vick’s sample tube, the one Eli gave him. He agrees to keep the tubes and Cassia’s papers safe. She asks for more of his story. Ky stammers about the day his parents died—he didn’t tend to them like he did in the picture he drew for her. He saw them and ran. Cassia whispers “I love you” into his ear, and he feels brand new (340).

Cassia recites a line from the Dylan Thomas poem for Ky. With that, he goes into the trees, and she gets into the boat. She follows Indie’s orders, paddling when she’s told. Cassia misses one command, and the boat flips. The river water is bitter and dark from the Society’s poison. Cassia surfaces in the air bubble of the upside-down boat, confused. Indie leads them through flipping the boat upright and getting back in. They lost all their supplies in the spill. An airship flies low overhead, and they manage to escape detection by staying close to the bank.

The river empties into a massive body of water that Indie identifies as a lake. Suddenly, a motorboat speeds toward them. When the boat is close enough, Indie yells that they’ve come to join the Rising.

Ky runs parallel to the river, stopping only to eat and sleep. He remembers going to the pool in Oria Province for the first time as a child. Cassia sat on the side and eyed the spot where Xander dove, uncertain if he was okay. Ky swam to the bottom of the pool to save him, but Xander wasn’t there. Cassia giggled at his awkward resurface, and at that moment, he knew he loved her. Back in the present, Ky hides the tubes and papers. He carves a pattern of scales into a rock to mark the spot, then approaches the lake.

The men in the motorboat take Cassia and Indie to a bustling camp; the girls test negative for contamination. Cassia answers the men’s questions, but omits any mention of Hunter and Eli. They ask why she wants to join the Rising and she says, “I don’t believe in the Society anymore after what I’ve seen” (356). The men decide Cassia would best serve the movement from inside the Society.

Ky completes his own interview with short, simple answers. He gets assigned to air-ship pilot training in Camas Province. He reunites with Indie in the main tent. Cassia has already been sent to her assignment in Central; Indie hasn’t received her assignment yet. Ky singles out an ex-Archivist and convinces him to send Cassia’s papers to her in Central. Later that day, the Archivist confirms the papers are in transit. He gives Ky the carved stone (used to mark the hidden papers), admiring the handwritten letter Cs.

Cassia walks to her place of work in Central. She’s in the middle of negotiating a trade with an Archivist, something she has to do from time to time. She pauses to look at the view over an air-train stop. Before the next train arrives, Cassia resumes her walk—the signal that the Archivist’s price is too low. She thinks about Ky sending her messages from inside the Rising, and is meeting him in Central tonight.