#Dahlia Darkoath

[whoa-its-dani]

(Star Wars S/I OC Fanfic) Chapter 1 - Upgrades

Summary: (Psst, read this in the Clone Wars animated series opening narrators voice, teehee!)

Dahlia Darkoath - bounty hunter, pirate, and mercenary - arrives in Coruscant to visit some of her old friends in order to upgrade her newly acquired droid.

Warnings: None for this chapter, that I can think of?

Media: Star Wars Takes place after Episode Two, sort of lines up with the Clone Wars series. (Time is a little fucky-wucky right now, still working on that.)

Characters: Dahlia Darkoath (OC), D34-R13 (OC), Cha Lamell (OC), Bella Buu (OC)

Word Count: 2453

Date of Completion: June-26-2022

This fic was also posted on Archive of Our Own! [ Read It There? ]

Disclaimer: (Kinda long but necessary)

I’m new to Star Wars. Haven’t seen all related media. Can’t say I really want to. Don’t know all the lore or the facts of the series. A lot of this will be wrong, incorrect, or misunderstood from canon.

I like SW. I like a few specific characters and a few specific concepts. I daydream a lot (for fun & coping) and I wanted to write stories based on those daydreams. But I don’t know everything. I’m not an expert. I’m not even a novice. I know very little and I don’t have the energy or desire to learn everything about the series.

Despite this, I still want to share some of the stories of my OC self-insert, even if she is a bit of a Mary Sue. There are also other OCs that I've made that relate to my S/I that I wanna write about.

I AM trying to stay somewhat canon compliant, but a lot of things WILL differ. We can pretend it’s intentional, shh ;) It IS technically an AU after all! Anything that is MEANT to be wrong will be noted in the Author’s Notes at the end of the fic. Some things that are “Legends” may be incorporated.

I’m sorry to any passionate or long-time fans who know more than I do, who might be upset that things are wrong / different. I hope you can still read and enjoy the story. I know I enjoyed writing it!

I welcome any feedback, and will try not to take any corrections personally. If it can be an excuse for you to share lore from a series that you love, then it’s a win in my eyes. Expect things to be changed / retconned in the future as I learn more about SW.

Ultimately, this is just meant to be a fun time. Please don’t assblast me too hard <3

Side-Note: If there are any concepts that you like and wish to incorporate into your own fics, please feel free to! I came up with a bit of original stuff for the fic, and if it vibes with other SW fans, I’m more than happy to share! Any original concepts will be detailed in the notes! Feel free to incorporate them into your own stories, if you like! :D

(Picrew)

Two figures hurried down the streets of Coruscant. Though they traveled together, they were different in appearance. The figure leading the way was a short human robed in layers of black and gray clothing, most notably a large, black coat with silver adornments on it and a pair of similar, though not matching, boots. Her skin was pale, and her brown, curly hair crept down to rest on her shoulders. The blue light from the goggles she wore pierced through the night, fitting in well with the many streetlights of the city around her. Her lips sat in a neutral state, colored a slightly darker blue than the light of her goggles. Silver hoops on her ears and nose glimmered as the lights of the street met them. A blaster rested on her hip in a black holster, slightly obscured by her coat. She walked with purpose, a destination in mind, and the world around her meant nothing to her as she focused entirely on her goal.

The second figure, nervously wheeling along behind the woman, was a WA-7 waitress droid. Entirely out of her element, her head jittered back and forth as she jumped at every unfamiliar noise she heard. She held her hands at her chest, fidgeting her fingers as she raced to keep up with the woman she followed.

"M-Miss Darkoath, are you sure you know where we're going?" said the droid.

"D34, how many times do I have to tell you," replied the human, over her shoulder, not stopping her stride, "just call me Dahlia. And, yes, I know exactly where we're going."

The two continued down the streets, passing shops, clubs, and alleyways, with Dahlia never deviating from her path. The more they walked, the quieter it became, as fewer and fewer people appeared in the streets around them.

"Miss Dark- er... Miss Dahlia," said D34 in a worried tone, "are you sure we should be here? It's starting to feel like-" a loud, clanging noise came from an alleyway behind her, which made her squeal and rush to Dahlia's side.

"Relax," said Dahlia, placing a hand on D34's arm, "I know this place." She continued forward. "And drop the 'miss', please. Just Dahlia." She took only a few more steps before stopping. "Ah, we're here." She raised her hand to her goggles, pressing a button, and the blue light faded.

Before them sat a small storefront, with two large windows that shown no light thanks to the massive curtains closing off inside the shop from an outside view. The decor around the building, which consisted of vivid, whimsical (if not completely abstract), colorful designs, was faded from sun damage and the wear and tear of time. A humble door with a weakly flashing "OPEN" sign stood in an enclave in the middle of the two windows.

"Ah, good!" piped up Dahlia, stepping towards the door, "I was worried they'd be closed this late!"

A tone chimed as the two opened the door to the shop. "Hello!" said a cheery voice from the counter. "Come in, come in! What can I get for you?"

The shop's interior was cozy but not cramped. When you entered, to the left were shelves containing gadgets and technological parts for droids and things. To the right stood a wall of colorful wares: toys, dolls, and hand-sewn plushes, as well as music boxes and hand-carved and hand-painted decorative figurines. Behind, around, and ontop of the counter were various colorful confections, hand-made treats, and candies. A lone man, an old kage with chalk-white skin, blonde hair, and coal-black eyes, smiled brightly as Dahlia and D34 approached the counter he stood behind. He wore colorful blue garb adorned with fanciful patterns, and had whimsical black markings painted around his eyes. "Oh, do my eyes deceive me?!" he said, holding his hands up to his eyes like binoculars, "Dahlia?! Is that you?!"

"Hey, Cha," replied Dahlia, nonchalantly leaning on the counter, "how's business?"

"Oh, can't complain!" replied Cha in a cheery tone. His eyes moved to D34. "Oh, my, my, my! You have a new droid, I see!"

"Yup. Cha Lamell, meet D34-R13." Dahlia turned back to D34. "D34, meet Cha Lamell. Friendliest man in the whole galaxy."

"H-hello, sir." said D34, meekly. "A pleasure to meet you."

Cha leaned over the counter, taking one of D34's hands and shaking it wildly. "Hello to you, too, my dear! What a polite droid you are!"

"Thaa~aa~aank you~ou~ou!" D34 said, shaken by the ferociously friendly handshake.

"Now," said Cha, releasing D34's hand and readjusting himself behind the counter, "what brings you to our humble shop, my friend?"

"It's actually about my droid." said Dahlia, gesturing towards a frazzled D34. "Is Bella around?"

"Indeed she is!" said Cha, moving to the side of the counter. "In the back, come on through!" He opened the waist-high gate that separated the store from behind the counter.

Cha led them through a back hall, which led to a large, black door with a sign that read "EMPLOYEES ONLY", behind which they could faintly hear loud music with vocals that sounded like screams and growls. The music grew louder as Cha opened the door to reveal a slightly cluttered back room, spare inventory scattered across various shelves. In the center of the room, on the floor, sat a small chadra-fan working on some sort of gadget, gently nodding her head to the music that was being played by a droid at her side. Her skin and fur were both dark black in color, and her eyes shone a faint, dark, emerald green. Her left ear drooped gently over her face, while her other ear perked up into the air.

Cha approached her, shouting over the music. "Bella, Dahlia is here to see you!"

Bella continued to work on the gadget, oblivious to what Cha had said. Frustrated, Cha raised his voice, and repeated "BELLA! DAHLIA is here to SEE YOU!"

Still, the little bat-like creature sat, focusing only on the gadget in her hand and the music that filled the room. Cha let out a growl and stomped over to her, tapping her on the shoulder. "MISS BUU!" he shouted, causing both of Bella's ears to perk up straight.

Bella reached over and pushed a button on her droid, which stopped the music. "What is it, Cha?" she said, looking up at him as her ears relaxed.

Cha motioned with his hands to Dahlia and D34. "Dahlia and her new droid have come to see you!"

Bella's eyes lit up when she saw Dahlia. "DOLLY!" she said in a manner similar to a screech. She quickly stood and rushed over to hug her. "It's been too long! Where ya been?"

Dahlia knelt and returned the hug. "It's a very long story, Bel."

"I'm sure it must be!" said Cha. "If you all will excuse me, I really should tend to the shop!" Saying this, he returned to the counter.

Bella loosened her embrace and waved Dahlia and D34 into the room. "Come on in. Sorry it's a little messy." Dahlia and D34 entered, the former sitting down on a stool near a work table that was covered in spare parts and techy bits. "What can I do for you?" said Bella, sitting back down beside her droid.

"I was hoping you might be able to upgrade my droid some." said Dahlia, adjusting her coat.

Bella glanced at D34. "Upgrade? Ok, what are you thinking?" Bella stood and approached D34, looking her up and down. "Faster wheel, different personality..?"

"Actually, I was hoping you might be able to make her a protocol droid."

Bella and D34 both looked at Dahlia, confused, before Bella spoke up. "You want me to make a waitress droid into a protocol droid?"

"Yeah." Dahlia replied, leaning her elbows against the work table behind her. "I like her the way she is, personality and all. But I wish she had like... language capabilities. Cultural knowledge. That sorta stuff. It'd help me a lot in my current field of work. I don't really want to change her, just... add more to her, if that makes sense?"

Bella turned back to D34, looking up at her face. "It's... a little unorthodox, but I think I can do that. It's gonna take a day or two, though."

"I'm in no rush," said Dahlia, standing up, "and price is no object. I trust you to do it right."

"Price is no object..?" Bella's ears perked straight up once again. "What kind of work are you doing, Dolly?"

Dahlia chuckled softly. "Well, D34 here ain't the only one who's upgraded from being a waitress."

Bella raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "Lemme guess... this "new line of work" isn't the most legal, is it?"

Dahlia hesitated, waggling her hands in uncertainty. "Weeeeell, not so much. Depending. It's a gray area, really."

"Just spill it already."

"I'm kind of a... pirate... bounty hunter... mercenary... guy?"

Bella sighed, lowering and shaking her head. "Are you paying me with blood money?"

"No, nobody died during this job."

"It's true, Miss Buu," said D34, "the job was a simple-"

"D34! Confidentiality!" interjected Dahlia in a raised tone.

Bella stood a moment, in thought, before shrugging. "Well, so long as nobody died, then it's fine with me, I guess." She took D34 by the hand and led her towards a far side of the room. "Like I said, it'll take a day or two before she's upgraded. Come see me tomorrow to check on the progress."

Dahlia nodded and smiled brightly. "Knew I could count on you, Bell!" she said, heading towards the door, before quickly swinging around. "Oh, do you want me to pay now, or when I pick her up?"

"You can pay when you pick her up," replied Bella, putting on a pair of goggles. "I think I have everything I'll need to upgrade her."

"Great!" said Dahlia, turning back towards the door. "See you tomorrow!" she chimed over her shoulder. "D34, you're in the finest hands!" Saying that, she left the room, closing the door behind her. The music could once again faintly be heard.

Dahlia passed through the back area and approached the gate at the counter, ready to leave the store. As her hand touched the gate to open it, Cha spoke up from behind her. "So," he said, his back turned to her as he fiddled with inventory behind the counter, "a pirate-bounty-hunter-mercenary-guy?"

"You, uh, heard all that?"

Cha turned to face her, a faint smile on his face. "You two can be very loud together, Dahlia." He approached the counter and picked up a datapad that sat upon it. "You know, when rumors began to circulate of a human named "Dahlia", I had hoped it wasn't you." He began to type something on the datapad. "Theft, weapon smuggling rings, piracy... 'No, no,' I thought, 'it couldn't be the Dahlia I knew'. But you had disappeared, vanished into the night. One day, here, the next day, gone, and in your wake were those rumors and stories." He sat the datapad back on the counter, sliding it Dahlia's direction.

Dahlia picked it up, reading the screen.

"WANTED -  30,000 CREDITS BOUNTY - DAHLIA DARKOATH, HUMAN"

Her eyes quickly darted back up to Cha, her heart beating faster. With trembling hands, she cautiously sat the datapad back onto the counter, bringing her arms to a rest at her side, her thumb gently brushing against her holster.

"Dahlia," said Cha in a reassuring tone, "you don't need to worry. I'm not interested in the bounty. You are a dear friend, and I haven't forgotten all we've done together." The kage stretched out his arm and picked up the datapad, putting it under the counter. "I have a strong feeling that Bella will feel the same." He took a deep breath, looking Dahlia directly in the eyes with a weak smile tearing at his cheeks. "But Coruscant is a dangerous place for a wanted person. Bella and I are your friends, we'll do what we can to protect you, but we both know you can't say the same for anyone else."

"I'm aware," Dahlia said, relaxing a bit, "but I'm a helluva lot stronger - and smarter - than I used to be."

Cha folded his arms, his smile now completely faded from his face. "It's not my place to judge your strength, nor to tell you where to go or what to do," he said, sternly, "but as your friend, as someone who cares about you, I would suggest you keep as low a profile as possible."

"Well, I've never been one to cause a scene," Dahlia responded, "at least, I try not to." She turned and pushed open the counter's gate. "Besides," she continued, "I'm only going to hang around here a day or two until Bella upgrades D34."

"Then where do you plan to go? What do you plan to do?"

"Well, I'll... look for a job."

"On Coruscant?"

"If need be. Coruscant isn't a squeaky-clean city, and I'm sure I'll find work easily with my newfound reputation."

"Oh, you'll find something with your newfound reputation, alright, but nothing good!" Cha raised his hands and began to count with his fingers, pacing back and forth behind the counter as he continued, "Theft, spice running, smuggling, MURDER, the end of another person's blaster..." He stopped his pacing, bringing his hands up to his shaking head. "Dahlia, you've always known that if you need money or a job or anything at all that you could come to us," he said, "why continue down a path of..." he gestured rapidly with his hands, "violence a-and danger?"

"Look, I know you mean well, but this is my life now," said Dahlia, raising her voice, "this is just... how it is. How I am."

"But, Dahlia, why?" Cha quickly rushed through the counter's gate, reaching out with weary, desperate hands. "What happened?"

"It's a long story, Cha." said Dahlia, her tone growing frustrated as she backed away.

Cha balled his fists, bringing them to his chest with a worried expression on his face. "You can tell it to me, can't you?" He gazed at her with earnest, pleading eyes.

Dahlia let out a sigh, bringing a hand to her brow. "Are you sure you'll have the stomach for it?"

The old man's eyes lit up as a smile danced across his face. "You know I do, dear," he said, traipsing over to the store's front door, "or have you forgotten who you're talking to?" He flipped a switch which turned off the "OPEN" sign and then another which locked the door. "Come, come," he said cheerfully, leading Dahlia to a small table with a few chairs, "sit, and tell me everything!"

Dahlia slowly sat down in one of the chairs, resting her elbows on the table in front of her. "Alright, but we're starting at the beginning."

Cha chuckled, sitting down across from her, his head propped up by his hands. "I'd have it no other way, my dear."

- AUTHOR’S NOTES:

- WHAT THE CHARACTERS SOUND LIKE:

Dahlia Darkoath - She’s literally my self insert so she’d sound like me. Since I’m not willing to upload a file of my voice, here are some characters that people IRL have told me I sound like: - Linda Cardellini as Wendy Corduroy from Gravity Falls - Mae Whitman as Amity Blight from The Owl House - One of my friends insists I sound like fucking Fluttershy but c'mon please god nobody will take her seriously if she sounds like that. YES, she sounds young. It’s an unfortunate reality for me IRL. She’s in her mid 20s, she is an adult, she just fucking sounds young because of the bitch ass genes :/

D34-R13 - Veronica Taylor as Carly Carmine from the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds dub, just with a robot filter on it.

Cha Lamell - Alan Tudyk as King Candy from Wreck It Ralph. That kinda clown-y, mad hatter voice, but still able to be a “normal” voice when need be.

Bella Buu - Eden Espinosa as Cassandra from Tangled: the Series

- Dahlia’s goggles not only help her see (near-sighted), but also allow for night vision, thermal vision, a visual translator, and some different scanners, as long as they’re charged. (They always function as glasses though, because of the glass used!) They glow blue when in use!

- Cha Lamell is a kage, and yes, his skin is chalk-white and his eyes are coal-black. I don’t think these are canon-compliant colors, but that’s what he looks like. He’s based on a clown music box I have.

- Bella Buu is a chandra-fan and has black skin (like coal black, just like her fur) and dark green eyes. Like Cha, I don’t think these are canon-compliant colors, but it’s what she looks like anyway. She’s based on a vampire bat Build a Bear that I have. I am an adult and I will take inspiration from anything, I ain't picky.

Last Updated: July 2, 2022

[ Chapter Two -> (WIP) ]