Sign of the Zodiac: Aries
[Sign 1: Aries] Hamal

Anaru found himself standing in a white place. That place has no boundaries or barriers. There is only an absolute emptiness so vast without edges. A puzzled Anaru circulated his gaze, but he found no one there. The young man tried to step up. His footrest produced a soft ripple on that white floor. Like there was water under his feet. But there is no shadow of him or anything that bounces.

With a confused feeling, finally Anaru decided to browse through the place. He stepped without direction, but the place was really only filled with emptiness. Wherever Anaru went, the white universe followed him. After a long walk, Anaru started running. Frustration and panic began to strike. The sound of water lapping accompanied every step of his steps.

Anaru was still alone. His panic turned into fear. He's trapped! In a strange place without anyone accompanying or just giving an explanation to him. Anaru began to shout out to anyone who might be there.

“Haloo! Anyone! Please answer me!” anaru continued to shout in frustration.

But no one said. He was still alone in the empty place filled with white light. The young man slowed his pace and stopped. The rippling floor on his feet turned calm as soon as he stopped. Anaru then bent his knees and limped.

Once again the young man circulated his gaze, yet the place had not changed at all. Only the white universe emits light. Anaru felt himself trapped in a kind of shining pearl shell. And even though he had run as far as anything, he just kept circling in an uncertain direction, then returned to the same place.

Anaru took a deep breath, trying to ease her panic. There should be an explanation behind his current condition. He then tried to capture his memory. What happened before he was here? But again Anaru got nothing. He doesn't remember anything. His memory was completely empty, as if he had indeed just been created and placed in that place. There were no memories he remembered including his own name.

“Hamal..” suddenly a whirlwind blew on Ainaru's cheek, along with a voice calling out a piece of the name.

Anaru quickly turned. But still no one was there. Bulu kuduk Anaru. His breathing began to hunt and his heart was racing. The more questions that came to his mind, made Anaru even more panicked and frightened. What the hell's going on? Why is he there? Who himself? Who's Hamal?

Question-by-question floods him endlessly. Anaru clutched her head which began to throb against the cornered wave of questions. He looked down and started beating the floor with his fist. The ripples on the floor grazed every time his hands landed there. Surprisingly the milk-white floor was not making the Anaru wet at all. It only feels cold, but does not contain water.

Anaru momentarily stopped throwing punches. Observing the cold floor that felt soft as well as hard. Anaru wished he could see the shadow of something, at least his own face. But nil. The floor regained its calm after Anaru stopped moving, like a plain marble stone tile. Though at least, Anaru wanted to see his face, what it looked like. How his body is now. He has forgotten. What color her eyes, or the color of her hair, was nothing she could remember.

Suddenly tears seeped through both of Anaru's eyes. His flow soaked both of his cheeks, and continued to trickle down to the floor. Anaru cried without a sound. He continued to cry and cry for a long time. He had no idea how time revolved in that place. It's been a long time since he woke up there. Even so, his body did not feel tired at all. After walking, running, and crying, Anaru still felt that his body was so light.

“Hamal...” the sound of the wind again whispers a name.

Anaru looked up, still with tears that melted away without her being able to control.

“Who?! Who is it?!” exclaimed Anaru with a choked voice.

Suddenly in front of Anaru, the white color in that place slowly faded, replaced by the appearance of orange streaks that continued to spread. Slowly but surely the yellowish orange streak changed the overall color in that spot. The cold and cold weather that had previously been felt by Anaru suddenly turned warm and continued to heat up along with the changing color of the place.

Even the silence that had surrounded the place was suddenly filled with whispering sounds that were getting louder and louder. The voice overlapped to the point that Anaru had to cover his ears due to the disturbing noise. While cursing, Anaru tried to dispel the voices that began to deafen.

“Hamal...” a piece of sound is heard again, but it does not come from the wind, but rather from inside his head.

Anaru stood up, then walked towards the wall. He tried to observe the moving pictures on the wall. It turned out that the pictures were pieces of a scene about the life of a middle-aged man with long hair full of gray hair. The man's clothes were similar to the clothes Anaru wore but in a different color. Anaru's clothes were black with hornbills, while the man was white but had the same ornamentation of hornbills.

Anaru continued to observe those soundless images. There is a scene that shows the man healing someone, then there is also a fight scene with whom. So many events were depicted on each panel of the picture that finally, Anaru watched the last panel of the man. He looked so old and just lay on a rattan bed. The man closed his eyes peacefully while the few people by his side were crying bitterly. That was the last scene of the long haired man earlier.

But the scene doesn't stop there. Next to the man's death scene, a new scene appears that shows a picture of a dark-haired baby girl. The baby cried so strongly in the arms of the mother who had just given birth to him. Once again, Anaru saw the resemblance of the clothes of the people in the picture of the baby. Anggang bird ornament.

Anaru continued to chronicle the baby and began to understand that it was the story of a woman's life from birth to her death. The woman was as special as the long-haired man earlier, who could heal, was good at fighting and so on.

The longer Anaru went around, the more confused he was with the intentions of the various images that were there. Everything just shows the life and death cycle of people he does not know. Only one thing was the same between them, all of them were wearing clothes similar to him.

“Hamal... mahi kotu kua marathon?[1]” the voice in his head said again.

Somehow Anaru understood that language. His memory seemed to be dug deep into the years he did not know.

“Ewa?!” exclaims Anaru shouted.

“Hemal…. Maratia tinga kotu ingoa[2],” word voice in head Anaru.

Suddenly the blocks of memories hit the memory of Anaru. So many events suddenly flooded his head. He finally remembered his own name, Anaru, a shepherd in the tribe of Khitai. His entire life memory instantly sprung up and made his head so dizzy and in pain. Anaru immediately fluttered to the floor due to the unbearable pain in his head. He groaned loudly as the number of memories entered.

For a while he was in pain, the last memory that came was his defeat while fighting with Kaharap in the dead forest. The pain continued to strike until all Anaru could do was lie down with his eyes closed. His breathing was stingy and sweat flooded his body. In the next instant, he faintly heard his name being called by a female voice.

“Anaru... Anaru..” that voice sounded anxious.

Anaru tried to open his eyes even though his head was still throbbing pain. In front of him, he now saw a silvery-white haired woman calling out her name with tears in her eyes.

“Airyung..” sigh Anaru lirih.

...***...

[1] Hamal?

[2] Hamal.