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Okay, maybe Maul was a little excited. Just a little bit.
However, could he really be blamed for that? The others were all so enthusiastic and all they talked about, damn, even his tutors talked to him about it, and some were really old.
He kinda understood where it was coming from, though. He only hung out with warriors who lived in the shadow of stupid and weak monks, Duel Masters or Battle Masters who had proven themselves on missions or had taken their arts to the extreme while others tried to imitate and outdo them with diligence and dedication.
They were his people, the people he felt most easily close to because they thought like him... and so yes, they were all particularly excited about the idea of Maul finally having his own lightsaber.
"It was about time," Master Drallig had offered as his only comment. "When you have it, we can finally really get started."
Maul thought they had already started well but he remained politely silent like a good Jedi and went to find another training partner. In the end he had just trained himself to fend off shots because it was the only way for him to have peace, and when he came out several of them had the audacity to try to reassure him, to tell him that his nerves were useless, that there was a crystal for him there.
He was not afraid, he was not a stupid child! In comparison Kenobi was probably more worried about his future than Maul was, and that was understandable, at that age he was not anything amazing. He was not bad, but compared to slightly more marked natural talents, he did not attract the attention of people around him.
So being flashy was really the key.
The next few days were the messiest that Maul had lived here and he promised Savage that he would be the first to see his crystal.
"Why are you stressing so much anyway?" He sighed at the most hateful redhead in the world who annoyed him by hesitating to move forward with the others towards what many considered their first step towards Padawan selection.
"It's a bit like... proof, you know?"
"You don't need it, the proof is in you."
"It's true. Thanks Maul."
"Don’t thank me," he grumbled, walking away with no hesitation.
He did not have any questions, when the Force did something weird he was there, so when it was such an obvious message? He could not ignore it, and that was not the point anyway.
He did not so much wander and search as he walked towards the huge signal that felt like fireworks and stopped in front of it with a confused sense of relief and... pride?
As expected, the crystal had no colour, nothing to differentiate it from the others, but Maul knew it was his.
It was calling out for him.
There were two almost stuck together, but Maul did not hesitate for a second and took his until he had it in his hands and he watched in fascination as the colourless crystal changed colour, so excited that he did not want to miss a thing.
He was so young at the time, and so blind, he did not even remember the original colour of his first kyber crystal, the one that was made for him. For a Sith, any crystal could be used as soon as he was subdued, there was no search for harmony and the only reason his Master had encouraged him to seek one was for the symbolic of ruining and destroying the harmony in him with his own hands to make him strong… or so he thought.
Sidious never wanted him to be strong, if he was strong, he could break free, and that was not a good idea, was it?
The dull object slowly coloured and Maul watched in confusion the warm hue darken and darken again until the shining crystal in his hand remained unchanged in a blazing scarlet red.
Horrified, Maul almost threw it against the wall by reflex: WHY? Had he made his crystal bleed without even realizing it? No, that was not the case, there was nothing corrupt about that kyber, it was just... red. A Sith-lord red.
What if he naturally vibrated with a naturally red crystal, what did that mean? That he was even more of a Sith than he thought? That he would never be able to do it?
"Maul, are you okay? Do you already have yours?"
"Yes, but Savage will be the first to see it," he replied without thinking, noting that his feet had brought him back to the others.
"See? I knew you would have one! Look at Obi-Wan’s! I was sure his would be blue."
"Bant, we already know that you like to be right, no need to tell everyone," Kenobi replied to his Mon Calamari friend with a resplendent smile, a blue crystal shining through his hands clasped and clenched around it like a prayer. "I don't know why I was worried, it's really... Wow, Siri!"
Out of the corner of his eye, Maul saw a distinctive flash of purple in the girl's hands that amused him and he took a step towards them before remembering what was in his pocket and what colour it was.
They could not know, no one could know.
He had finally found a place where he felt good, he could not miss out on something so important.
What were they going to do when they found out?