At the foot of Death Mountain, lies Kakariko Village. You will meet many different people here and you may find some useful items too! First, the path to Death Mountain Trail is found here. When you enter the village, go up the walkway to your left. Move up the stairs and you'll find a guard. Talk to him and show him the letter that Zelda gave you. He will open the gate. He'll also urge you to get a better shield. The "better shield" is the Hylian Shield. You can buy one at the Bazaar in the Market or you can get one for free in the graveyard behind the village. The guard also tells you about the Happy Mask Shop and how his sone would like a popular mask. He doesn't have time to go there though so he asks you if you could bring him a mask. This task can wait though. Before you head up Death Mountain, you should stay and explore the village a little.

Find the Cuccos
On the east side of the village, you will find a lady asking you to return all her cucoos. If you can find them all and put them back in their pen, she will reward you with another bottle! There are seven cucoos to find.
At the entrance to the village
On a ledge beside the House of Skulltula
Inside a crate by the first house directly ahead of you when you enter the village.
Behind the windmill
Beside the graveyard kids' house
In the yard behind the potion shop, you must use another cucco to float over. Throw both down then.
Near the pen where you put the Cuccos.

House of Skulltula
When you enter the house to your right, as you enter the village, you will find some deformed Skulltula's. This, once wealthy, happy, family was turned into Skulltula's by a curse. By killing all 100 Gold Skulltulas throughout Hyrule, you will break the curse. You also earn nice rewards.
Gold Skulltula Rewards
10 Skulltula Tokens-Adult's Wallet (Holds 200 Rupees)
20 Skulltula Tokens-Stone of Agony
30 Skulltula Tokens-Giant's Wallet (Holds 500 Rupees)
40 Skulltula Tokens-Bombchu
50 Skulltula Tokens-Piece of Heart
100 Skulltula Tokens-Gold Rupee (200 Rupees) Note that if you leave the house and return, you will get another gold rupee!

The Graveyard
The Graveyard holds many secrets. Although you can't do much here during the day, come back at night! Leave the village, enter the trail up Death Mountain. Stand there till night falls. Re-enter the village and head to the Graveyard. There are also 5 Gold Skulltulas that you can kill right now. Look on Tips & Tricks for their locations.

Dampe the Gravedigger is wandering around now. You can pay him to dig wherever he is standing. You may find a Piece of Heart...you never know! Make sure he is standing on dirt and then talk to him. He'll ask you if you want him to dig there for 10 Rupees. Say yes if he's standing on a dirt patch. The location of the Piece of Heart is random so have a lot of money on you.

In the first row of graves, you will see a grave with flowers in front. Pull on this grave from behind and enter the hidden hole. Open the chest to obtain the Hylian Shield!

At the back of the graveyard, you'll find the Royal Tomb. Stand on the Triforce Crest and play Zelda's Lullaby. The gravestone will explode and a hole will be there. Jump in to find yourself in the crypt. Look around carefully and you will be able to spot some bats clinging to the walls. Defeat all of them and the stone door will open. The next room is filled with poison gas and Re-Dead. If a Re-Dead spots you, you will be frozen for a few moments. Run through the middle of the room, you won't receive much damage from the water. In the next room, read the inscription on the wall. You will now learn the Melody of the Sun. Head back to the Graveyard. Play the Sun's Song to freeze the Re-Dead in their tracks for about 30 seconds. Now that you have the Hylian Shield and the Melody of the Sun, it's time to head up Death Mountain.