Quentin Ryes

"Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him."

- John Locke Quentin Calamus Ryes is a citizen from District Nine, and a tribute in The Hunger Games. He belongs to Enraptured Misfit. Please refrain from employing this tribute in your Hunger Games without his permission. If you wish to use this tribute, leave the owner a message. His district partner is typically Araise Hasting. The two do not need to be submitted into Hunger Games together, or in a special order.

Information
Name: Quentin Ryes

Age: Sixteen

District: Nine

Gender: Male

Personality: Misunderstood and loner-based, Quentin can be easily described as the mysterious type of boy that is difficult to analyze and is seemingly distant overall. A real book aficionado, her is typically seen with a novel in hand. He's a very literal person, to the point where he writes poetry in his free time, that is, when he is not working on the golden wheat fields of his District against his will. Quentin usually conceals his feelings to himself, and doesn't open up to anyone other than his two younger brothers, Hilt and Bennet. He is very unpredictable, and is courageous and independent as well. Millet is also a sullen, disciplined boy who has studied and has gained a notable knowledge overtime. He is very wise, and usually puts thought and time into his tasks before concluding them.

Weapon(s): Scythe, flail

History:

Backstory= Quentin was born into a family that, even though they were where poor, they could afford the most basic of necessities. Taking care of little Quentin was never an easy task because anybody who offered to babysit him ended up maddened by his wails. In the end, his parents had to bring him to the fields as they worked. The owners of the fields would often watch over the family, mainly because they pitied them for having to bring their son along. The hunger problems became worse when Hilt and Bennet were born, because it meant more mouths to feed and more complications with work. At this point, the previous owners had been kicked out and replaced with a more barbaric owner and his wife. The Ryes family were often beaten, purely because they didn’t get as much work done as expected. It wasn’t even their fault if their children required supervision all of the time. It was because of this that Quentin wanted to run away at first. He believed it would mean no suffering. But when the owner paraded a worker who had slipped away from work and caned him, he had second thoughts. This did not mean, however, that Quentin dreamt of an escape.

When he was ten years in age, his parents put him in charge of his younger brothers. Hilt and Bennet, despite being two and four years younger than Quentin, proved to be problematic even in his hands. The trio of them were as thick as thieves, but even that proved the babysitting duties to be difficult. It was thanks to them, however, that a new future rose from the grounds.

One day, Hilt and Bennet managed to flee far away from their parents and Quentin. Because they were hard at work, none of them noticed until Quentin was asked to check up on them. Once he had taken note of the disappearance, he begun to wander aimlessly trying to find them. It took him an hour before he finally came across them. However, they were kneeling over. Somewhere behind them, a tall figure emerged with a cane. Without thinking straight, Quentin sprinted over and screamed ‘No!’ The wielder of the cane, who had it in mid-air, glanced at him with a contemptuous glare. Turns out it was the owner, ready to teach a lesson. Hilt and Bennet were both whimpering, but they seemed to relax when they saw their older brother.

“Give me one good goddamn reason why I shouldn’t unleash the cane on them!” The owner spat.

“Give me the reason why they’re about to receive their punishment.” He responded, venom in his voice.

“Well, they trespassed onto the wrong patch of land. They’re not supposed to be here,” He grunted. “And by the looks of things, neither are you.”

“I only came because they ran off. It’s not their fault: They didn’t know they were in the wrong territory. It’s my fault for not keeping an eye on them. If you have to beat somebody, then let it be me.” Quentin used his eyes to beg with the owner. It seemed to work, since he was cursing under his breath.

“Alright, fine. But it will be triple as much as it would be for a single person: Two sets for your runts and one set for you.” He then turned to face Hilt and Bennet. “Scram back to where you came from!” They immediately whimpered and fled. Quentin gulped as he stared at the cane.

Halfway through the second set, Quentin felt himself shedding tears with every blow. It was too much for him, considering he was only ten years in age. But at the same time, he could feel the hate inside of him build up. By the third round of lashes, he was bleeding all over. All he wanted was for it to be over. Without warning, it stopped. At first, Quentin expected a big whack from the cane. However, none came. He hesitantly opened his eyes to see the owner’s wife, holding the cane and eyeing it with disgust.

“Harold, because of the amount of lashes you used on this little boy, you will not get any blueberry Bundt cake.”

“But honey, he was breaking the rules about trespassing.”

“I don’t give a cowpat about your rules: The one about trespassing should not even be there. Now get into your office or wherever you work.” The owner mumbled under his breath again about finding a new wife, before he sulked all the way to his destination. His wife glared at him as he did so, before she faced Quentin and gave him a smile.

“What’s your name, little ‘un?” She enquired.

“Umm, Quentin.” He responded, gritting his teeth as he stood straight up again.

“Oh dear, look at you. I swear one day, I’m going to divorce the son of a b- pardon what I was about to say there. Anyway, come inside and I’ll fix you up.” She led Quentin into her kitchen where she begun to work on healing his back. In the meantime, she revealed herself as Edna: A bookworm who could just hide in stories all day to hide from her husband. The only reason she married him was because of a betrothal.

“Can you read, Quentin?” She asked. He gave a brisk shake of the head.

“But I would like to. It seems like the best way to escape from this reality.” After hearing this, Edna laughed a little.

“It sure is! Look, here’s the deal: I’ll come to collect you and your… brothers, are they?”

“That’s correct.”

“Ok. I’ll come to collect you and your brothers so I can teach you to read. How often do you want to do so?”

“Every day.” He begun to chuckle, which didn’t last long because of the wounds he inflicted from his punishment.

“Alright. Every day it is then.” She grinned.

Edna stuck true to her word. Every day in the fields, she visited the Ryes and collected the children. Then they would go to her mansion and enter the library, where they were taught to read. It took a couple of months, but they eventually learnt not only how to read simple words, but longer ones as well. By this point, Hilt and Bennet had got sick of it and they returned to work in the fields. Quentin, on the other hand, stuck around for ages just to read. He found himself enjoying it a lot.

When she felt the time was right, Edna handed a book to Quentin. He eyed it with slight hesitation, but then thanked her for it and held it in his hands.

“What does it say?” She asked.

“A Christmas Carol. Charles Dickens.” He read aloud. “I guess you want me to read it all?”

“Yes, yes. I have a copy here in case there are any words you get stuck on.”

“Is there any reason why you picked this book for me?” He enquired.

“Yes, indeed. This is one of the first books I ever read, and since then it has always been in my heart. It’s not so much the eloquent writing that gets to me, but rather the message Dickens conveyed. You know, the man had a very clear picture of what his ideal society would be: One where the poor had access to a good education, where they could get good jobs and no longer be impoverished. A bit like modern-day Panem. Ah, but I’m rambling on. You may begin.” And thus, the reading session began. Although Quentin didn’t get some of the words in the first chapter, he never doubted their existence in the world and read on. The vocabulary pulled him straight into the story and the hidden messages behind it. Finally, with a bit of help from Edna, he finished off the first chapter. There Edna concluded the reading session, but not before she asked some questions. They were mainly to do with what Quentin thought of the book, which parts he liked and which parts were iffy for him. He answered the questions, and with that he bid her a good day and returned to the fields.

Thanks to the reading sessions, Quentin felt inspired to do good so that he could get a promotion for his family. Although he still hated his job as much as ever, Quentin put in maximum effort without talking to anybody at all. He understood the message Edna gave him, about education bringing you high up in the hierarchy. He wanted to be a clerk for the farm and earn more for his family, but for that he needed to know how to write. And once again, Edna was the one who took him under her wing. Quentin absolutely loved becoming more literate, but it caused him to be less social. All he wanted to do was read, write and help his family. Every day, he struggled just to prove his dedication. The only people he ever confided in were Hilt and Bennet, mainly because they had been taught how to read. They understood his frustrations, but they couldn’t bring themselves to empathise with him.

All the hard work paid off, for Quentin had been offered a higher rank by none other than Harold himself. At last, he was promoted to a clerk where he kept records of who was paying for their homes on the land and how much grain had been farmed. He got guilt pains whenever he uncovered people who couldn’t afford their rent, but he had to. All of this would continue for a few good years, until he was reaped. Guidelines/Condensed Version= WIP

Strengths: Quentin is very intelligent, and is willing to fight untill the end if it's necessary. He's a trustworthy person that would never think of betraying his allies for selfish, twisted motives. While he is not an open or outgoing person, he is easy to converse and get along with, and his tone hardly ever turns from sympathetic to melancholic or judging, making him gain trust from other people easily. He is also very brave, but like any other person, he can hold grudges and get mad when things go wrong.

Weaknesses: Quentin lacks any advanced knowledge in weapons, only being able to put to use the tools he's familiar with. He's lacking in the physical strength department as well, and cannot swim or climb successfully.

Appearance:

Fear:

Token: Quentin owns no token.

Trivia

 * Quentin was originally named Millet Oat, but Enraptured Misfit thought the name was too cliché and renamed him to his current name.
 * Quentin's backstory was written fully by Wolfgirl23c.
 * As such, credit for it goes for her.