turtle
鱉 centers on a specific kind of turtle, often the soft-shelled variety. The meaning is straightforward and refers to the animal itself.
鱉 combines 敝 (likely a phonetic component) with 魚 (fish), suggesting a turtle classified as an aquatic creature. The exact historical development is uncertain, but the structure points to a phono-semantic compound.
The top part 敝 looks like a worn-out cloth, and the bottom is 魚 (fish). Imagine a turtle so old its shell looks like tattered cloth, but it still swims like a fish.
For ヘツ, picture a turtle heaving itself onto a rock with a heavy 'hets' sound: hets -> ヘツ, as the turtle rests after the effort.