Jack was alone. No, not in the physical sense, he had all the guardians to hang out with. Well maybe not all the time as Sandy and Tooth had to do their jobs every night and still needed some time for sleep themselves. North was constantly working at the north pole making toys, so that he could please the children of earth on Christmas and renew their sense of wonder. Bunnymund, while he wasn't busy until about two months before Easter, still didn't seem to like Jack as much as the others. He was still upset about the Easter of 68'. It seemed a little shallow to still be angry at something that happened 80 years ago, but for those who are constantly busy and will never die, 80 years was the blink of an eye. For Jack however 80 years was several lifetimes.
Watching over the children of Earth although they couldn't see him, protecting them from whatever he could. Watching them grow up and have children of their own and those truly desperate days where he wished he could be one of them. That he had some sort of purpose in his life other than floating around and making it snow. He couldn't sleep. No matter how hard Jack tried to, he never could succumb to his weariness.
After many years Jack reached the conclusion that he didn't have to sleep like he had seen so many of the humans do, He didn't have to eat. Couldn't eat, would be a more appropriate wording actually. The first time he tried eating was the day he met Mother Nature. She was extravagantly beautiful, with a dress made of flowers he could have never imagined existed and held together by braided vines. The woman had found him reclining back against an old tree that overlooked the town of Burgess. She smiled gracefully at him and handed him the best looking apple he had ever seen in his whole life. He was too shocked to say thank you, after all she was the first person to see him and speak with him since he had risen from the ice almost thirty years before that. Before he could take a bite, she was dancing off to continue her journey. He had no idea that this apple would change everything.
He didn't know what exactly he was expecting food to taste like. It had just never appealed to him, so when he bit down and tasted nothing Jack thought it was normal. He didn't realize until he swallowed the piece that it was definitely not normal. The moment it hit his stomach he lurched over throwing it back up. For years he was under the assumption that Mother Nature had poisoned the apple until he tried to eat again and the same process repeated.
For his first 200 years Jack wanted to sleep. He wanted nothing more than a rest from this non-stop life he was living, and when he finally got that rest Jack realized that sleep wasn't as much of a 'couldn't' as it was a 'shouldn't'. The first time Jack got anything close to sleep, was halfway point of the 19th century. He was drifting through the air, when he was hit from the side by a rogue nightmare. He was day-dreaming at he time and hadn't expected the impact at all. Before he could steady himself, Jack slammed into a tree trunk. His vision blurred and soon his eyes shifted down until they closed fully. He was unconscious before Pitch could get there and calm the Nightmare down.
When Jack awoke, he felt rejuvenated, he felt like running and jumping and laughing. He jumped into the air and the wind effortlessly caught him, He flew into Burgess on a cold breeze that made sprinkles of snow appear in the air around him. He didn't know why he like to stay near Burgess but the town was nice and quaint even though not many people lived there yet. It felt like home to him though, so he would stay there as long as it did. Something was off though. It was Summer. But Summer had just passed when he was knocked out. Feeling the beginnings of panic begin to unfold in his mind, Jack made his way to the nearest spirit, which in Burgess would have to be Pitch.
Jack made his way down the hole which served as an entrance to Pitch's lair.
"Pitch?" He called out timidly. At the moment he could only see darkness and a few spots where the light had broken though the surface.
"Jack Frost?" Jack had only met the man once before, when some snow had made it into his lair. While Pitch was an intimidating man, he was actually nice if you got to know him. Just a little power-hungry and resentful from being stripped of his renown in the Dark ages.
"What's brought you here?" Pitch formed himself from the shadows and went to greet the frost prince.
"This may seem like an odd question but, what year is it?" Jack had a sneaking suspicion he wouldn't like the answer. Pitch frowned and his golden eyes narrowed.
"1852." Pitch drawled out. Jack felt his tongue go dry and he swayed when a dizzy spell hit him. Pitch was quick to catch him though.
"Are you quite alright?" Pitch asked placing Jack upright on the floor. If Jack heard him, he didn't show it. Jack jumped unsteadily up into the air and rode the wind out of the darkness. He had been asleep for nearly two years.