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It was good to be with Bale again. He was like a brother; or how Torak imagined a brother would be. They enjoyed the same things, laughed at the same jokes. But they were different. Bale was nearly seventeen summers old, and soon he would find a mate and build his own shelter. As the Seals never moved camp, this meant that apart from trading trips to the Forest, he would live out his days on the narrow beach of the Bay of Seals.
—Torak about Bale, Oath Breaker, chapter 1

Bale was a Seal Clan member and Torak's best friend and kinsman. He had a younger brother who perished from a mysterious sickness. He was approximately two summers older than Torak. While trading with the Forest clans, Bale, Detlan, and Asrif caught Torak breaking clan law by tainting the Sea with the Forest. After helping Torak and Renn to defeat Tenris, their Mage and a Soul-Eater, Bale befriended Torak. He helped Torak when he was outcasted by the clans and killed Seshru, the Viper Soul-Eater. Nine moons later, the Oak Mage Thiazzi killed Bale trying to find the fire-opal that Tenris hid, and Torak blamed himself for his kinsman's death. He broke clan law by saying Bale's name before five summers, and Bale's ghost haunted him.

Appearance[]

Bale is tall with yellow hair and blue eyes.[2] He wears a clear, light, yellowish hide made of gutskin, and gray hide from gray seals. His clan-creature skin is a stripe of a ring-seal. His clan-tattoos are wavy blue lines over his arms.[3] He greatly resembles his father[4] and is one of the best skinboating.[5] In Outcast, Bale has the beginnings of a beard on his face, and his hair is weaves with shells and capelin bones.[6]

History[]

Spirit Walker[]

Bale, Asrif, and Detlan arrive in the Forest to trade with Whale Clan when they discover Torak breaking the law of the Sea by washing his gear in the ocean. Bale is the oldest of the group of boys, and he catches Torak. When they arrive at Seal Island with Torak as their prisoner, Bale presents Torak to Islinn, the Seal Clan Leader, and explains how he broke clan law. Bale is furious when Torak explains that he came in search of a cure for a sickness, which had killed Bale's younger brother three summers prior. Upon Tenris' suggestion, Bale begrudingly teaches Torak how to skinboat. Despite Bale's relentless teaching methods, Torak manages to learn how to use a skinboat, but he nearly rams into Bale when his paddle snaps.
Bale and Asrif search for Torak when he goes missing, and Bale feels guilty for leaving him alone. Before they leave for the Heights, Bale returns Torak's knife and medicine horn as a sign of good faith. Bale accompanies him, Detlan, and Asrif to the Heights to fetch the selik root Tenris needed for the cure. When they arrive, Bale explains how his grandfather's grandfather installed the pegs that lead up to the top. When Torak falls into the water, Bale and Detlan use their skinboats to rescue him, but the Notched Fin Hunter arrives and destroys Detlan's skinboat, his leg breaking in the process. Tenris arrives to help Detlan, though as he, Bale, and Torak return to Seal Clan, Torak is separated in the storm. Bale finds Renn, Torak's friend from Raven Clan, who is also searching for Torak, but Tenris insists she has the sickness and must be isolated. Bale guards Renn in a shelter while Tenris and Torak leave to create the cure. Renn attempts to convince him that Tenris is a Soul-Eater, and he changes his mind once Wolf arrives and a great fire erupts from the peak of the Crag. Bale guides Renn to a skinboat so she has a better angle to fire her arrows at Tenris.
After Tenris is defeated, Bale finds the two tokoroths lying twisted on the rocks where Wolf had chased them. Bale is against letting Renn placing Death Marks on them as they die, though Torak eventually convinces him to let her do it. Bale takes Torak, Renn, and Wolf back to the Forest the next day, calling Torak his kinsman.

Outcast[]

Bale and his clan attend the clan meet at the mouth of the Whitewater. Torak notices him comforting Renn, causing him to become jealous. However, both Bale and Renn seek out Torak to help, but Torak ignores them. Saeunn suspects that Torak is suffering from soul-sickness caused by the Viper Mage, Seshru, though Bale adds that the Viper Clan hunters at the clan meet said they never had a Mage who turned Soul-Eater. Bale decides to stay with Renn and try to find Torak, however, the two argue over traditional duties since Seal Clan women stay on land. They reunite at Lake Axehead, where they are confronted by Otter Clan and taken to their camp. Their twin Mages read their minds, and one of them declares that Bale must use his time wisely. The pair are allowed to continue to search for their friend.
During a storm, Bale's skinboat becomes damaged, and the two are marooned on an inlet for four days while Bale repairs his skinboat. They notice that the Lake is shrinking. They reunite with Torak, who escaped from Seshru. However, Seshru confronts them on the Island of the Hidden People, where she reveals that Renn is her daughter. Bale attempts to reassure Torak that Renn will always be his friend, but Torak is too angry to listen. Rip and Rek reveal the hidden fire-opal in Torak's knife. When Renn warns of the coming flood, Bale and Torak hurry to warn the clans on the far shore. After the flood, Seshru confronts Torak for the fire-opal, but Bale shoots her with his bow and arrow while Torak smashes the gem, providing it the sacrifice that it needs. He is gifted a diverbird claw from Ananda as thanks.

Oath Breaker[]

Nine moons later, Bale and Torak take their skinboats out and enjoy spending time together. While eating, Bale tells Torak that he plans on asking Renn to stay with him, asking his kinsman for his opinion. Torak becomes jealous and angrily paddles away, leaving Bale alone to keep watch on the Crag. That night, Thiazzi shoves Bale off the Crag, killing the young hunter, and Torak finds his body below. He gives Bale the Death Marks and his clan arrives in horror. His funeral rites are that night - the clan provides him items for the Death Journey and his father guides his skinboat out to see where his body will be reunited with the Sea Mother. Enraged by his death, Torak breaks clan law by shouting Bale's name and vows to kill Thiazzi. Torak is haunted by Bale's ghost and he blames himself for Bale's death. Following Thiazzi's death, Torak finally grieves for his friend. As they leave the Deep Forest, Torak dreams of Bale at peace.

Relationships[]

Torak[]

Bale is Torak's kinsman. When Bale captured Torak, they detested each other, but Bale soon became friends with Torak once he realised that he was kin. In Outcast, Bale helps Renn to find Torak and defeat Seshru the Viper Clan Mage, by shooting an arrow into her breast.

Renn[]

In Outcast they work together to try and find Torak after he is made an outcast. To start with Bale tells her to remain at the Raven Camp; in his clan the men do the hunting and the women stay at the camp. Renn stubbornly disobeys him and they set out separately (Bale in his boat and Renn on foot) however Bale eventually admits that he needs Renn's help; he knows little of the forest or it's people. They then work together to try and help Torak and eventually find and save him.

In Oath Breaker, Bale reveals to Torak that he wants Renn to join his clan to be his mate. Torak was angered by this (hinting that he might have feelings towards Renn as well) and storms away, only to come back and find him killed by Thiazzi the Oak Clan Soul-Eater.

Tenris (the Seal Mage/ Soul-Eater)[]

Bale doesn't have a close relationship with Tenris, but trusts him and tells Torak that he would help him. He helps Tenris by putting Renn in a cave, heedless to the fact that she was healthy. He believes that Tenris created the "cure" for the sickness, and failed to help his younger brother, who was the first to die from it. He later finds out from Renn that Tenris was responsible for his brother's death, and it is revealed that the Seal Mage killed Bale's brother to test out the sickness he made.

Notes and references[]

  1. Oath Breaker, chapter 1
  2. Spirit Walker, chapter 16
  3. Spirit Walker, chapter 15
  4. Spirit Walker, chapter 18
  5. Spirit Walker, chapter 21
  6. Outcast, chapter 9
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