Chapter 488 One Hour Before Sunset
Somewhere above the sea waters of the Kokoro Islands, three sleek black helicopters traveled at high speed.
Theo, Aurora, and the others were inside the three helicopters traveling back to the hotel.
After they enjoyed their time around the bonfire with hot drinks and snacks, Nanth announced that the helicopters would come to pick them up to take them back to the hotel.
That was a request they made when they talked with Nanth about this excursion, as they wanted to be back at the hotel before 5 pm. And the only way to meet this demand was for the helicopters to pick them up at the last stop of their excursion.
That was because if they traveled back to the outpost by jeep, it would take hours to leave the forest. By then they would arrive back at the hotel after sunset, and that would disrupt their plans.
As Ryoko and Kaori had to leave around 7:30 pm, they wanted to enjoy the beach and watch the sunset at the sea one last time. They even planned to have a last dinner together before the girls left for the airport.
That's why the helicopters were speeding up toward their destination.
But before Theo and the others embarked on the helicopters, they hugged and bade farewell to Lara and the guides. They thanked Lara for the amazing adventure that she proportioned them.
They would never forget what they had experienced that day.
Lara and the guides bid farewell to them with smiles on their faces. Even though they had only known each other for less than a day, they could feel that Theo and the others were good people.
While Theo, Aurora, and the others went back by riding the hotel's helicopters, Lara and the guides would drive the jeeps back to the outpost.
Their time together had come to an end.
After the busy day that all of them had, they were a little tired, that's why some of them took a nap as the helicopters flew towards the hotel.
Their fatigue was understandable as they woke up early and entered the forest early as well. They had done so many things in their time inside the forest, so they deserved a little rest before their next activities.
With the helicopters' speed, it didn't take longer than half an hour for them to arrive back at Naeelis Island, where they were staying at.
When they were arriving back at the island, the ones who were napping woke up and checked the clock. And they were impressed with the hotel's efficiency as it was almost 5 pm!
They asked to arrive before 5 pm and they did it!
Shortly later, the helicopters landed one by one and they left the helicopters. As the heliport was a little far away from their villas, as soon as the helicopters left, Nanth guided them to the vehicles that would transport them to their villas.
A few minutes later, they finally arrived back at their villas.
"Finally, home!"
"Home?"
"You know what I mean."
"I'm so tired!"
"..."
They started talking and discussing as soon as they left the cars.
"Guys, what about we meet at the meet in 20 minutes?" Theo asked out loud when he noticed that they were wasting time.
They liked his suggestion, so they agreed to it promptly. This way they would be able to rest for a little bit in their villas before going to the beach.
Shortly after, they all entered into their own villas.
Some of them took warm showers, others just lay down on their bed, and others just scrolled down all the pictures they had taken during their excursion.
Theo was one of them that chose to lay down to rest, but while he did that he chose to listen to Sylph's report about their journey through the wild forest.
"Master, during the 7 hours that the group traveled through the woods I was able to capture several threats." Sylph explained as Theo just listened quietly, "These threats came from wild animals that neared the group. But the guides' safety measures managed to scare these animals away. The biggest threat I registered was the adult Sea Lion, but after the animal entered the lake waters I lost view of the target."
Theo became curious when he heard that, "Oh, did you manage to track its movements?"
"Only during its time on the ground, when the animal entered the water it was too difficult to track its movements." Sylph replied.
"Show me the pictures you took from it." Theo asked.
Sylph promptly showed the high-definition pictures she took from the Sea Lion with the drone.
"Wow! These pictures are awesome, Sylph! Good job!" Theo complimented her.
"Thank you, boss!" Sylph replied with a happy voice.
Sylph continued her report on everything that neared their group during the excursion, and Theo was happy to know that Sylph was able to observe everything even with the trees covering the skies.
It didn't take long for Sylph to finish her report, Theo thanked her for her hard work and stood up from the bed. The time to leave for the beach had arrived.
Theo picked up his bag and headed to the beach.
A minute later, he arrived at the beach and noticed that he wasn't the first to arrive.
"You guys are early!" Theo smiled when he saw them.
"We are losing light, so we came earlier." Ayia laughed.
"Yeah!" Aurora agreed with a shout.
The others laughed when they heard that.
A few minutes later, everyone was gathered once again at the beach.
"Let's dive!" One of them exclaimed.
"I'm gonna put on some sunscreen before entering the sea." Theo shook his head as he took the sunscreen from his bag.
It was only then that they remembered that it had been a while since they put on sunscreen, so they followed Theo's example and put on sunscreen on their skin to protect against the sunlight.
A few minutes later, everyone was dutifully protected against the sunlight.
"The last to come is an ugly frog!" Ayia screamed as she ran toward the sea.
"Hey!"
"Wait for me!"
"I'm not gonna be last!"
"..."
Ayia's scream lit up their competitive spirit and made them run like crazy people.
At the end of it, Max was the one who arrived in last place, and the others didn't waste the opportunity to make fun of him.
Although they were a little tired after their forest adventure, they still wanted to enjoy the sea before the girls left, so they didn't even feel that tired at that moment.
They just laughed and had fun as they enjoyed the last sunlight of the day.
At that moment, they just wanted to enjoy their time together.