[there's a pause as Akira tries to remember the patterns of the lights he saw. they're difficult to describe, but. . .]

At first they were circular. Like they were lighting up a cylinder that was jutting out of the shadow's body.

[that]

[doesn't make much sense, but hey. he tries!!!]

And then once the cylinder disappeared, the entire creature's body lit up with lightning-shaped patterns. Or maybe vein-shaped. . .?

[extremely eerie, either way! being a newcomer, Akira couldn't say whether what he saw was a spirit or not. but he can say it piqued his interest enough that he wants to look further into it]

I think it's what got the ferry moving, though whether it followed us to shore, I can't say. It disappeared pretty quickly after we started moving.