A bloody line appear across the thing's chest, and it may have lost a finger or two, but it's still coming.

Clearly the answer to this is the time honored tradition of hitting it until it dies. Or, well, stabbing it until it dies, either one.

Unlike lightsabers, vibroswords don't cauterize as they cut.

By the time the creature stops moving, Nariveth and her new blade are drenched in blood.

Well. That's. That's definitely some shiny new trauma that she has now.

She checks to make sure it's dead. Then, she loots the corpse, because what else is she supposed to do, she is obviously in danger, she doesn't have time for sentimentality or respect to something that went crazy long ago and then died. ... Well. Something that went crazy long ago and then tried to kill her and failed due to vibrosword to the face. And chest. And arms. And she maybe went a little bit too far, didn't she, she could have avoided killing it entirely if she hamstrung it and turned tail to run -

No, no, don't go down that road. It was a mercy kill in self defense, she needs to stick to that story. Not for the sake of anyone else, for herself. Her other option is to lock herself in a room for a while to have herself a freak out, but that's just not happening. She doesn't want to stay in this tomb any longer.

Does it happen to have the stolen rucksack?

It does! Upon inspection, the contents appears to be the same as what was in her own, except instead of the two (2) ration bars, there are one and a half (1.5) ration bar wrappers.

If consulted, her mysterious new sense thinks she should go that way to get out. That way doesn't seem to be leading her back to the stairs she came up.

She takes the power pack, the water, and then decides that she really doesn't want another thermal blanket and uses it to wipe her sword and face clean of blood. ... Well, her sword clean of blood, with her face it's hard to tell without a mirror, but at least she doesn't feel as awful and sticky. Which is good enough for her. The rest of her's going to have to wait until she can get access to a refresher.

Then she consults her mysterious new sense and goes the way directed, regularly prodding it for the million credit question of 'Am I about to be ambushed again?'

She's not ambushed again. It seems the lost acolyte was the primary danger the tomb had to offer. After she goes up one flight of stairs, then another, she is greeted with the sight of a gently sloping corridor ending in daylight.

Yay.

Well. Out she goes, sipping water and finishing up the unfinished half of her first ration bar. Who knows when she'll get another meal. (She keeps one hand free for her sword, just in case, and prods her new sense for input constantly.)

There's a guard at the top of the ramp. They hold up a hand to stop Nariveth, and ask "Group number?"

"Cresh-21. And I retrieved the sword and everything." Behold, sword.

The guard doesn't visibly react. There may be eyerolling behind the face-concealing helmet. They note the group on their datapad, and toss her a synthleather belt with a sheathe to hold her sword.

"Hang it over your shoulder. Don't walk around the academy with it drawn." They give directions to where she can find her overseer, and end with "You'd better hurry, you're the last one out."

Surely she couldn't have wasted that much time - but if her peers were not as safety conscious, the timeline makes sense, she was very careful about being quiet -

Ugh.

"Right. Thank you," she says, putting her sword in its sheath after checking to be sure she did clean the blood off of it properly (she did), and putting on the belt.

Off she goes, to find her overseer. She suspects she will not get to visit the refresher because she was the last one out, that just seems to be how things work here, she is likely going to be covered in blood for whatever comes next. Yay.

Meanwhile, and slightly earlier...

Lord Occlus is taking a shuttle down to the surface of Korriban. She doesn't particularly want to be, but Darth Vowrawn had suggested that taking an apprentice from the homeworld would boost her credibility. On reflection, she agreed with him. This would serve to demonstrate that she was genuinely interested in the future of the Sith, and not just some flash-in-the-pan upstart solely motivated by revenge. Not that revenge isn't a major factor in her decision to hunt, humiliate, and kill Darth Thanaton, but she does think his insistence on the traditional path regardless of the changing galaxy is hindering the Sith.

In fact, a break on Korriban might be just the thing. Thanaton is unlikely to make any further overt moves against her while she is at the academy, and it is a fine spot from which to do some further politicking with those members of the Dark Council not yet swayed one way or another. Chief among those being Darth Marr. If she can lock him in, it almost doesn't matter about any of the others. He is a dominant personality. Marr respects strength, which she has, and is fond of the Empire itself, not just as a means for his own power. That sets him apart from most others, but if she can make some important contribution to the war effort...

It really is very nice to be able to think inside her own head without constantly being interrupted and sidetracked. The Voss excursion was well worth the time she invested. But now the shuttle is landing, and she must go meet with the overseer and determine what sort of apprentice she will be saddled with. Hopefully there will be at least one capable of stringing two thoughts together, and if they have any strength at all in the Force, well. That would just be a bonus.

When Nariveth nears the room she was told her overseer would be in, she can hear him talking with a woman she does not know.

"...truly the dregs of this shipment, my lord. Slaves, and alien filth. It would be better to cast them all aside, and wait for the next arrival."

"You know I don't have the time to waste. I will trust that the trials will serve their purpose of culling the weak, and take what I can from this group."

Nariveth decides before she actually gets to her overseer that she will not slink in last. Instead, she'll own it. She doesn't regret the logic behind her choices, though they could have been executed a bit better, and she won't act like she's failed. Because she hasn't.

So that is how she walks up, looking perfectly composed, covered in blood but otherwise unharmed. She glances at the Sith Lord, assumes that this is the Sith that'll be taking one of them as an apprentice, and consciously represses a flinch reaction. (Though a proper Force user could probably notice the flare of fear. It doesn't show on her face, but yep, that's some fear.)

She doesn't interrupt their conversation; instead, she'll wait patiently with her hands clasped behind her back, waiting to be addressed. Her bet: the overseer is about to call her some nasty names and call her pathetic. And she is not going to react to a single one of them.

Both look over to her when she enters. The overseer speaks first.

"You're not dead, then? Pity. The others have already started the next trial, you'd best run to catch up, slave."

Occlus holds up her hand.

"Wait just a moment, overseer."

To Nariveth, "What took you so much time in the tomb?"

... She has to talk to a Sith Lord. Directly.

Nariveth swallows the automatic fear response of 'Nothing my lord' and raises her eyes to meet Occlus's.

"He didn't set a time limit, and my own survival matters more to me than his approval. I assumed dangerous things lurked in the tomb and conducted myself as such." She glances dryly down at herself, then back up to look at Occlus. "I was correct."

Faint smile. This one's a thinker.

"Are you literate?"

She smiles a little, encouraged despite the terror.

"Yes, my lord."

"Good."

Occlus turns back to the overseer. "This one will not be participating in the second trial. I am taking her to the library with me, instead. You may have her back tomorrow."

The overseers splutters. "My lord-! You can't just-"

"Can I not? Be very sure of your answer, overseer."

He bows his head in submission. "As you decree, my lord."